LV silence over sewer plant could be costly

Dan Kulin

Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005 | 6:49 a.m.

When proposed residential developments near Las Vegas' sewage treatment plant came before the Clark County Commission during the last two years, the county notified the city to give officials a chance to weigh in on the plans.

City officials, however, did not raise questions about the proposals -- and are not even certain who at City Hall received the county's letters.

Las Vegas' silence over the notification could leave it facing a hefty tab of $13.3 million to $71 million on odor-control improvements needed at the plant because of the proximity of several thousand homes allowed by county rezoning.

Although the issue has come to light amid the contentious debate over developer Bill Walters' request to build 1,200 homes to replace his Royal Links Golf Club, its roots predate that deal.

A recent report on how the encroaching development could affect odor-control costs at the sewage plant uncovered what Las Vegas City Manager Doug Selby said was probably an unintentional unfunded mandate from Clark County.

The report, by a panel of waste-water treatment experts that examined odor-control issues at the sewage plant, concluded that previously approved residential developments pose a threat to the city's ability to expand the facility in the future -- and pegged the cost of eliminating that threat at $13.3 million to $71 million.

This is because even though homebuyers will be required to sign odor easements -- documents acknowledging that they might smell odors from the plant -- the city still would be open to violations of the county's air quality regulations, the report and Selby said.

"The odor easements are more protection from lawsuits, and it is unlikely to prevent the county's air quality division from citing us," Selby said.

The proposed spending would cut odors from the plant, which already eliminates about 95 percent of its odors, by 99 percent or higher, depending on how much is spent.

Selby said he is confident Las Vegas will be able to expand its plant, based on his belief that it will continue to spend money to lessen odors coming from the plant as it has in the past.

Since 1991, the city has spent $35 million on odor-control improvements at the treatment plant.

Selby expects to spend at least $13.3 million to see whether that will sufficiently mitigate the anticipated problems.

While Selby does not blame the county for putting Las Vegas in this position, he said he was not certain why it did not complain earlier.

"I'm not sure the county fully appreciated the impact of allowing homes there," he said about county decisions allowing homes within 150 feet of the plant.

"I certainly think it was not an intentional unfunded mandate, because they did it to themselves, too," he added, referring to residential developments that abut the county sewage treatment plant, one mile south of the city plant.

Marty Flynn, spokesman for the Clark County Wastewater Reclamation District, which operates the county plant, said while odor-control spending is not directly proportional to the number of nearby subdivisions, there is a relationship between the two.

"The reality is, if you have development occurring, that's going to increase the scrutiny," Flynn said.

Flynn said residential encroachment has necessitated technology upgrades in the past, but that's partly because when the plant was built 50 years ago, there was no odor control whatsoever.

Today, Flynn said, odor-control measures are incorporated into daily operations regardless of what is nearby.

Although it is too late to protest the financial implications for the city of the already-approved residential developments, Selby looked into why it did not at least participate in the discussion over whether they should be approved.

Selby said -- and county records show -- that the city was sent letters alerting officials of applications for residential developments within 300 feet of its plant. The city sewage treatment plant and the surrounding area are within unincorporated Clark County, but Las Vegas, like other nearby landowners, is notified of pending applications for zoning changes.

One application, for 227 homes across a wash east of the city plant was approved in January, and another application for 1,560 homes, some as close as about 150 feet south of the city plant, passed in November 2003.

Selby said that for unknown reasons, the city never responded to the county's request to comment on those matters.

"We have no record of us issuing a response," Selby said. If, as appears to be the case, those letters were simply addressed to City Hall at 400 E. Stewart Ave., "they could have gone anywhere, to any department," he said.

Selby said city and county staff since have been in contact to ensure that similar letters in the future are addressed to his office or the appropriate city department.

Dan Kulin can be reached at 229-6436 or at dan@lasvegassun.com.