Friday, May 11, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.
A proposed contract between the city of Las Vegas and MASH Village won't give the shelter control of the land and will require that at least $3 million in improvements be made on the site.
But the agreement will give a local nonprofit board, which includes the Rev. Joe Carroll, who heads the shelter, and other MASH Villages representatives, a chance to vote on items affecting the property.
The sticking point in more than a week of negotiations between the city and Carroll has been ownership of the 10 acres on which the homeless shelter sits. The city has been reluctant to turn over the land to the shelter because it wants to have some control over what goes on the property.
The proposed agreement will be discussed by the Las Vegas City Council Wednesday.
According to the proposed contract, the city will turn over the 10 acres to a local nonprofit corporation on or before Dec. 31.
MASH Village created an advisory board in December, made up of local businesses including Lake Mead Hospital and Desert Springs Hospital.
MASH Village Executive Director Ruth Bruland said the board was trying to get nonprofit status, but it has been delayed as a result of the negotiations. The board is moving forward with applying for nonprofit status and would become the new board if the agreement is approved.
The board is responsible for voting on items relating to the shelter, such as improvements to the property. Carroll and two other shelter representatives also sit on the board.
MASH Village must also within five years make $3 million to $4 million in capital improvements to the shelter, which must include transitional housing, an 11,000-square-foot kitchen, a 9,000-square-foot medical clinic, a 12,000-square-foot day-care center, and up to 50 senior apartments, according to the proposal.
According to the agreement, the city will not give a $500,000 subsidy for the crisis intervention center within the first year. Since 1996, the city has provided $2.91 million in operational expenses -- through annual subsidies of at least $500,000 -- for the crisis intervention center and transitional living center, according to the city.
Lastly, MASH Village must agree to work toward a regional solution and transitional scattered housing plan with the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition homeless task force.
Bruland declined comment on the proposal, but said: "Our goal remains that we continue services without interruption to our families and parents and kids, and they know they're going to have a roof over their head."
Of the 100 people living at the shelter, 33 are families that include single women with children, single men with children, and three intact families.
Although the board will have a say on what goes on the property, the city will still have some control. According to the proposal, MASH Village cannot build housing for single women or men on the site and will not provide the 250-bed winter shelter, which it has operated for three years.
The proposal is the latest in a string of events that took center stage last week when the City Council decided not to amend a contract for MASH Village, which would have given the shelter ownership of the land.
Carroll says he needs ownership of the land in order to increase fund-raising abilities, and after the council's vote said he would shut down the shelter in 30 days.
If a decision is not made by the council Wednesday, the crisis intervention center and health clinic are set to close two days later. The shelter would close down within the end of the month.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, chairman of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, said governments must share the burden of the homeless problem.
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