LOOKING IN ON: SUBURBS

By Mike Trask (contact)

Thursday, June 21, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

The Nevada secretary of state's office has fined a corporation for not filing a campaign finance report after mailing seven scathing fliers aimed at then-Mesquite Mayor Bill Nicholes.

The Nevada Policy Group must pay a $4,875 fine and file a report listing its contributions and expenses. If it does not respond, the case may be sent to the attorney general's office.

The fliers, which were sent in the weeks before the April primary, accused Nicholes of having secret meetings with developers.

Nicholes is under investigation by the FBI over his role in bringing new developments to town. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Although Nicholes finished first in the primary, he lost in this month's general election to Councilwoman Susan Holecheck.

According to a document in the secretary of state's office, the Nevada Policy Group is run by Yale Cunningham, who last year briefly served as executive director of the Nevada Republican Party.

During Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro's final meeting as the city's top elected official, the City Council approved a pair of 50-year leases that will allow a hotel and a senior citizens housing complex to be built on city land.

New council members Linda Strickland and Travis Burton, who will take their seats June 26, spoke against the leases during their campaigns.

The Hawthorn Suites Golf Resort will have 140 rooms and a 9,000-square-foot events center on 2 acres at the Boulder Creek Golf Club. Under the lease, the city will receive $173,000 annually. The city also expects to benefit from golf ers staying at the hotel or spending part of the day in Boulder City.

The Volunteers of America housing complex, which will be on 30 acres at Adams Boulevard and Veterans Memorial Drive, will have 160 to 220 units. That 50-year lease will pay the city $35,000 per acre annually on 16 acres where construction will occur.

Lacking the money for a new landfill, Boulder City recently decided to expand its current one.

Opening a landfill would have cost nearly $5 million, but the city has only $800,000 set aside for that purpose.

The expansion - 20 feet vertically and horizontally - will meet the city's needs for about 15 years. Although it will cost less than a new landfill, exactly how much less has yet to be determined.

The landfill's future became a hot topic of debate in the city after it was revealed that the current 160-acre site was expected to be filled by the end of the year.

The expansion must be approved by the Southern Nevada Health District.