Construction to resume on Bonanza Village wall

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, March 22, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

Construction will begin again soon on a security wall that was designed to encircle and unify a West Las Vegas neighborhood but instead has stood half-completed for almost a year.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic said Thursday that the Nevada Supreme Court last week dismissed the case brought by Bonanza Village resident Cuthbert Mack in June, which had halted the project. The city will alert the contractor that he has 30 days to get back on the job.

That's good news to City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who said the wall's delay ended up dividing neighbors in his ward.

"It's a big sigh of relief," Weekly said. "This has been held in limbo for so long, and it is not a good feeling for the residents who have wanted answers. It's been horrible because a lot of folks there, their homes are exposed and it's been very uncomfortable for them."

In 1998 a majority of Bonanza Village residents presented the council with a petition asking that a Special Improvement District be levied on their West Las Vegas neighborhood to build a security wall. Residents said their development, which is more than 50 years old, had fallen victim to crime and vandalism.

Each of the 168 property owners would be assessed a share of the wall's $825,000 cost.

The city tore down the homeowners' temporary walls surrounding the area of Bonanza Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard to construct one continuous block wall.

But after the council approved the improvement district, Mack sued the city, saying a majority of residents no longer wanted the project completed because the cost to the individual residents had risen from the original $2,300 estimate. The court issued an injunction, prohibiting construction of the wall, until the justices ruled on Mack's suit this month.

During the time -- almost a year -- that construction was halted, it cost the city $63,000 to shut the project down and $1,500 per month to maintain temporary fencing -- fencing that has failed to stay upright.

Residents have wanted an end to the litigation, saying their properties lack security and privacy, especially for homeowners whose backyards face busy arterial streets.

Jerbic said the city will work with the residents to find ways to improve the aesthetics of the wall, which should take four months to complete.

Jerbic also will work on a request to allow the residents to pay back the cost of the wall over 20 years, instead of the proposed 10 years.

"The residents who came forward asking for this wall wanted to see something good happen in the neighborhood," Weekly said. "We now have the opportunity to work closely with the residents and try to come up with a concept on how to beautify the wall and really enhance this project."