Las Vegas council briefs for May 3, 2001

Thursday, May 3, 2001 | 10:21 a.m.

Resolution backs planning coalition

The Las Vegas City Council has approved a resolution supporting the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's efforts to coordinate strategies on Yucca Mountain.

The resolution says that the city supports the coalition's opposition of the location of a high-level nuclear waste repository in Southern Nevada. The Department of Energy is considering shipping 70,000 to 90,000 tons of nuclear waste through the Las Vegas Valley on the way to Yucca Mountain.

The council is encouraging the coalition to provide regional guidance on policy issues affecting the area and ensuring that constant opposition is maintained among governments in Clark County and Nevada.

More funds OK'd for disputed wall

With construction beginning after more than a year, the city will spend an additional $45,000 to complete the Bonanza Village wall.

Additional project costs were related to the work hiatus ordered by the Nevada Supreme Court in June. In March, the court ruled that the city could continue the project, which was stalled after a resident sued the city alleging that a majority of the residents no longer wanted the project completed.

City staff conducted a survey of the residents in the neighborhood near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Bonanza Road and obtained estimates for options to enhance the aesthetics and a time frame to pay back the cost of the wall.

The city sent surveys to 169 residents in Bonanza Village, but only 47 people responded.

A majority or residents said they would rather the wall stay how it is, rather than use stucco or split-face.

Although a majority of respondents said they wanted to pay the cost of the wall back over 10 years, City Councilman Lawrence Weekly opted for a 20-year pay period for lower-income residents, which the council supported.

Office planned for West LV

The Veterans Administration will soon have its own office in West Las Vegas.

The council has agreed to lease 3.2 acres of land in the Las Vegas Enterprise Park to the federal government, which will in turn select a lessee to build an office facility. The government will pay the city $1 yearly for the land. Once a lessee is chosen the city will sell the land at Vegas Drive and Stella Lake Street for $5 a square foot or $702,980.

The lease will carry for two years with the option to renew in 2003.

The city is moving forward with annexing

175.38 acres in the northwest. A bill calling for the annexation of Bureau of Land Management land at the northwest corner of Torrey Pines Drive and Horse Drive was approved by the council Wednesday. Final annexation will take place May 11.

Two bills sponsored

by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and approved Wednesday will tighten restrictions for outcall entertainers and escorts. The bills requires persons who work as escorts or outcall entertainers to obtain a health card.