Las Vegas City Council briefs

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003 | 9:32 a.m.

Internet booze sales are approved

The Las Vegas City Council approved an ordinance to allow people to buy alcohol over the Internet and have it delivered from a grocery store, and then approved the first applicant for a license to do so.

The Albertson's grocery chain worked with the city to craft the ordinance and received its license with the next item the council took after it approved the Internet sale rule.

Council members passed it with little discussion, although Ward 6 Councilman Michael Mack asked how the sales would be regulated so minors couldn't order. Buyers will be asked to give their identification when they order, and the same person must be present when the order is delivered. Also, a customer cannot order only alcohol. The order must include groceries, although how many groceries is not specified.

Bob Gronauer, a lawyer representing Albertson's, said before the council meeting that this would be a first for the valley, although alcohol sales over the Internet are allowed in California, Oregon and Washington.

Sculpture project tabled for month

The city tabled for a month a $30,000 contract for a model of what boosters hope will be a world-class centerpiece of the proposed arts district.

The model, created by sculptor Yaakov Agam, is intended to set the stage for the project, which will involve 45 18-foot steel sculptures set on Boulder Avenue between Main Street and Casino Center Boulevard. As envisioned, the project would entail closing that section of Boulder Avenue.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said Wednesday that one of the property owners is hesitating to commit to the project, and requested the item be tabled while negotiations continue.

Contract approved for clinic study

The proposal at the heart of downtown redevelopment efforts -- luring Cleveland Clinic to Las Vegas -- took another step Wednesday when the council approved a $340,000 contract to conduct a feasibility study.

That's half of the cost of the study and sets in motion a timetable under which city officials would know by March whether or not the project -- proposed for the former railroad yards -- will move forward.

The city has owned 61 acres of the former Union Pacific property for about two and a half years. The city recently approved $2.1 million in design and engineering contracts to begin developing the land. It also has approved a preliminary design that places the medical campus on about 18 acres to the north, an "urban village" of about 23 acres in the middle, and a 4.43-acre performing arts center to the south. The remaining acreage would be roads and open space.

The city decided Wednesday

to hire an additional 15 detention officers at an annual cost of about $1 million. In a report prepared for the City Council, officials said the city can make $1.19 million a year from renting out 50 beds in Unit 6 at the Stewart and Mojave Detention Center to other law agencies. The city makes $10.3 million a year renting beds to other law agencies, according to the report.