Las Vegas council briefs for May 2, 2002

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 10:13 a.m.

Approval given for beautification

A stretch of Alta Drive will soon have meandering sidewalks and landscaping.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved two ordinances creating a Special Improvement District for on Alta between Rancho Drive and Valley View Boulevard.

The $159,446 project will include installation of 34-foot traffic lanes, sidewalks, street lights, landscaping and irrigation.

Property owners abutting the improvement area will fund the maintenance costs of the project, estimated at $76,072 per year.

County prisoners to be housed

The city will enter into an agreement with Clark County to provide additional inmate housing at the Stewart Mojave Detention Center.

According to the contract, the city will receive $930,000 per month from the county to house pretrial detainees and sentenced misdemeanor defendants.

Extra housing is needed because of delays in the county's expansion of the Clark County Detention Center. The center, which is more than a year behind schedule, should open in November.

City to negotiate with promoter

The City Council has directed city staff to negotiate with Michael Hyams to set up a temporary stadium on the 61 acres west of downtown for the Las Vegas Stampede, a series of chuck wagon races Sept. 19-22 that would feature more than 300 horses.

Chuck wagon races typically draw 20,000 spectators each night for a series of races at the Calgary Stampede, one of Canada's largest rodeos.

City to improve controversial wall

The city will spend $80,000 to improve a security wall it build around Bonanza Village, a neighborhood near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

The project will include painting the wall, adding decorative split-face block, laying concrete around utility cutouts, and installing sidewalks on Washington.

Residents had been fighting the city for more than three years over the $1.13 million security wall. When the wall was completed earlier this year, residents were unhappy with the result.

Each of the 168 residents in the area will be assessed $4,908 over 20 years to pay for the wall, which was supposed to cost $824,698.

Private lawyers will be hired

The city has terminated its 20-year agreement with the Clark County public defender's office in hopes of saving money by hiring private attorneys.

The public defender's office has been providing indigent defense services in Municipal Court for more than 20 years. The council decided Wednesday to terminate the agreement and contract with private attorneys to provide the services, saying they could save at least $300,000 per year.

Main Street displays approved

Main Street business owners will be able to display merchandise on their sidewalks for a one-year trial period.

The business owners have been fighting the city for more than two years over a recently enforced ordinance that bans display of merchandise on sidewalks.

They argued that there are unique oversized sidewalks along Main Street that are conducive to sidewalk sales. Constructed in the 1940s and 1950s, they are 14 feet wide, while new sidewalks are 6 feet wide.

The City Council

Wednesday adopted a bill that prohibits storage of Dumpsters on streets and within sidewalk areas located in multifamily, commercial or industrial areas.