Boulder City council briefs for Sept. 10, 2003

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 | 9:32 a.m.

Solar vote delayed again

A Boulder City Council vote on leasing land for a solar-power plant was postponed again Tuesday because city and company officials are still negotiating an agreement, city officials said.

The city is negotiating with Solargenix, a Raleigh, N.C.-based company that wants 400 acres in the Eldorado Valley to build a 50-megawatt solar power plant.

The council also delayed action on the matter during its last meeting on Aug. 26.

Council approves law firm hiring

The Boulder City Council on Tuesday approved the hiring of the powerful Nevada law firm Lionel, Sawyer and Collins to represent the city in matters regarding the municipal Boulder Creek Golf Course.

The firm will deal with the pending lawsuit brought by company that built the course, review contracts between the city and the private companies that oversaw course construction and the management of the course, according to city documents.

City Councilman Roger Tobler has said the firm will also perform an audit of course's finances. Tobler has said he hopes the audit and a coming presentation of other Boulder Creek-related information will help erase suspicion some residents have of the financially troubled golf course.

A city document said the firm is needed because the legal matters and problems surrounding Boulder Creek have the potential to "dominate virtually all of the time of the city attorney and are potentially complex areas within the law that go beyond the experience and expertise of the city attorney."

Mayor Bob Ferraro said there is no cost estimate for the work to be done.

The firm will bill the city for time spent dealing with Boulder Creek issues, city documents say.

The $22 million course, which opened in early January, never lived up to pre-construction financial projections that showed the course would bring in more money than was spent to operate it after six months.

Instead the course ran an operating deficit of about $950,000 during its first six months. When including the cost of other expenses such as depreciation, pre-opening expenses and accrued interest. Boulder Creek has cost about $2.5 million more than it has brought in.

Pacini to lead League of Cities

Boulder City Councilman Mike Pacini will be named president of the Nevada League of Cities on Sept. 20, Pacini said Tuesday.

Pacini will replace Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald as president of the association, which lobbies on behalf of the cities in the state.

Pacini, now in his second term on the Boulder City Council, has served as first vice president of the association for the past year.

He said the president of the Nevada League of Cities serves a one-year term. There is no pay for the position, he said.