The sun is shining on Boulder City

By Bill Erin

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | 6:21 p.m.

Boulder City recently received a nice public relations boost from a full-page article in the Sunday edition of our sister newspaper, the Las Vegas Sun. The article mainly dealt with our solar energy plants, but it couldn't have done better for Boulder City if it were an advertisement.

It started out by alluding to the stereotyped picture of the city as the home of Hoover Dam. Then it hit just the right note by saying we had parlayed that past into a small tourist industry with antique shops and diners.

Here we would have liked to point out that we have more than diners. We also have some very good restaurants and casual outdoor dining. And we have more than antique shops. We have historic buildings, a great museum and a real, working railroad train, among other things.

But hey, you can't dictate free publicity. The article did tip its hat to our outstanding mountain biking, hiking trails and nearby Lake Mead.

The article also had a reasonably good map of our solar plant locations, current and proposed. This, in itself, is becoming a tourist attraction and 50 years from now will probably rate as an historic site with its then-outdated and historic solar plants.

Even now, it is generating some tourist interest and will do more as the individual companies publicize their alternate energy accomplishments.

In the City Council candidates' recent forum, there was nothing but approval for the dedication of even more land to alternate energy and city-leasing strategy. It was the one issue on which all candidates expressed support.

The article cited one advantage seized upon by solar pioneers that I haven't heard voiced in Boulder City. It cited solar company executives praising the speed and ease with which the city can and has surmounted the bureaucratic hurdles of other entities.

One executive was quoted as saying, "What makes it unique is the speed to get through the process." For one thing, Boulder City does not require impact studies on solar projects. Back in the late 1990s, when the gas-fired power plant was built in the Eldorado Valley, an environmental impact study was completed for a large swath of land and the city feels that suffices.

Another factor is the ease with which a company can deal with city officials without layers of authority and red tape. It took only six months to give the 130-acre Sempra Solar the go-ahead. The article stated that this is about one-fourth of the time it takes the federal government.

What worries many Boulder City residents is that this era may be passing. The City Council of the past two years has shown a tendency to spend more time bickering over small items and ignoring commitments made by city staff.

This was shown recently when some council members wanted to negate commitments made to an artist and the art community in Boulder City over a $60,000 Redevelopment Agency expenditure. It was illustrated again, when council members ignored commitments made to CVS over land acquisition and forced a meaningless last-minute negotiation during a recess in the council meeting.

All this aside, however, the article was good publicity for Boulder City and its tourist industry. Several Boulder City business folks lauded tourism during the public comment section of the March 10 council meeting.

Beth Walker, owner of Grandma Daisy's Ice Cream Parlor and Candy Shop, said she asks customers where they're from. She reported that a third of her business comes from tourists, and without that third, she would be forced out of business.

These comments were in response to a presentation Councilman Mike Pacini made regarding the efforts of his Tourism Commission. It all helps to keep our business district from becoming a bevy of empty shops.

Bill Erin is a Boulder City News columnist.