Foul stench returns, but not from storm drains

Dan Kulin

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005 | 7:48 a.m.

There's a bad smell visiting downtown Las Vegas again, and this one isn't wafting from City Hall.

The odor permeating the area around the Fremont Street Experience off and on during at least the last week was the same rotten eggs and garbage smell that city workers tackled earlier this year.

The city spent $96,000 to get to the root of that smell, which was coming from trash and construction debris stewing in pools of water trapped in city storm drains.

But this latest odor seems to be emanating from grease traps and Dumpsters around Fremont Street, as well as from a container off Fourth Street that holds leftover food bound for the pigs at RC Farms, said Jerry Walker, city streets and sanitation manager.

Walker said he has spoken with Fremont Street Experience officials about the problem. "The question is whether those bins need to be there," he said.

But at least the old source of the foul stench has been ruled out.

After spending between $5,000 and $10,000 in city labor to clean out the drainage lines, the city continues to flush those pipes once a month.

Fortunately, the smells that were there a few days last week were nowhere in the air during the Veterans Day Parade on Friday morning.

The Veterans Day Parade provided evidence of a possible new meaning to the thumbs-up gesture.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman gave more than a few four-fingered waves (no thumbs) and several thumbs-up (which were returned by many) as he walked up Fourth Street.

During a lull just south of Lewis Avenue, the mayor showed off his metal thumb keychain to a few spectators, and then held the keychain -- a gift from North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon -- aloft as he passed the parade grandstand.

Goodman has received national attention (again) for his over-the-top comments -- this time for suggesting that those caught defacing property with graffiti should have one of their thumbs cut off on television.

The mayor said last week that he would push state lawmakers to stiffen the punishment for graffiti.

"Two thumbs," the mayor quipped when asked what the penalty should be. Then, on a more serious note, he said sending someone to jail for "a year and a day" would send a strong message to would-be taggers.

Today, graffiti lawbreakers in most cases can face maximum sentences of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Higher fines and longer jail terms come into play for more costly violations.

The mayor said he has received more than 800 e-mails and "80 percent were positive."

Besides the thumbs, or the implied cutting off of them -- the mayor was given a razor on a keychain by someone during the parade -- the parade seemed to be an enormous success.

Thousands lined Fourth Street to enjoy perfect weather, and many veterans made a point of shaking Goodman's hand and thanking him for dedicating the parade to Vietnam veterans.

The Wednesday City Council meeting looks like one political insiders might want to TiVo, especially if former Mayor Jan Jones, former Public Works Director Richard Goecke or former Councilman Michael McDonald accept Goodman's invitation to talk about past deals with golf course developer Billy Walters.

But the other potentially explosive item on the agenda appears headed for a future meeting.

The council is scheduled to hear Asphalt Products Corp.'s appeal of city staff's decision to bar the company from bidding on the $35 million Centennial Hills Community Center.

City staff has blamed the contractor for the scores of cracks on the 23 courts at the city's new tennis complex at Washington Avenue and Durango Drive -- and is citing the company's work there as the reason for knocking it out of the Centennial Hills project.

Asphalt Products representatives say they did all the work they were assigned under the $33.4 million contract, and also note that city inspectors signed off on the court construction Sept. 1.

Councilman Steve Ross says that the council is expected to hold off on the hearing for two weeks, to give the company more time to prepare its case.