Las Vegas City Council briefs for Oct. 17, 2002

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 | 9:38 a.m.

Concerns raised over triage center

Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly said residents and businesses in his ward are concerned about plans that would put a regional crisis triage center for drunks and the mentally ill in their neighborhood.

Weekly called for a neighborhood meeting to address those concerns after the Chronic Public Inebriate Task Force presented its study to address the problem of drunks and mentally ill patients overcrowding hospital emergency rooms.

The plan calls for the county and local municipalities to chip in $1.27 million to help fund the $3.8 million center that would be operated at WestCare, a local nonprofit provider of substance abuse treatment on Martin Luther King Boulevard. There, health officials would assess the needs of the afflicted and evaluate them for the best course of treatment.

Safekey snacks funding approved

The City Council unanimously approved a request for $504,000 for its Department of Leisure Services to buy healthy snacks for the Clark County School District's elementary after-school Safekey program through July 31.

The request was removed from the consent agenda -- a large group of items considered routine and approved with a single vote -- for brief explanation because of the large amount of money involved.

'Affordable' rates planned for golf

The City Council announced that the Durango Hills Golf Course built as part of a public-private partnership will open Nov. 2 and will have fees that "are affordable, but not cheap," Councilman Larry Brown said.

Brown said the yet-to-be-announced rates will include special discount rates for seniors and youths on Monday through Thursday and a slightly higher than normal out-of-state rate that would not be prohibitive to visitors.

Councilman Michael McDonald

called for the creation of a Southern Nevada Disability Task Force to look into deteriorating sidewalks in the city and, in some cases, no sidewalks in bordering Clark County neighborhoods. McDonald said some sidewalks are in such disrepair that wheelchair-bound individuals are forced to travel along the shoulders of streets or in the roads.