Coalition all but scraps plans for $860 million water pipeline

By Joe Schoenmann

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010 | 2 a.m.

In January, the Sun reported the four local governments in the Clean Water Coalition were pushing to shelve their plan for an $860 million pipeline.

Last week, the board reaffirmed that decision.

They sided with local government wastewater managers who say technology has improved so greatly that a pipeline to send treated wastewater deep into Lake Mead to better dilute it is no longer necessary or cost-effective.

“For all intents and purposes, we’re not going to build this pipeline, it’s not going to happen,” said Steve Kirk, the Henderson councilman who also sits on the Clean Water Coalition Board.

He added: “I’m certainly not in favor of the government collecting money just to set aside to figure out what to do with it, and wait, perchance there might be something to come along.”

Because the pipeline won’t be built, does that mean the connection fees and Clean Water Coalition charge on homeowners’ sewer bills will be terminated?

Given that the pipeline would have been mostly paid for by the connection fees on residences and businesses, the board voted to stop collecting them.

The fees, which had risen to $874 per standard connection, would have brought in about $7.8 million.

Good for developers. But what about the $8 residential customers pay annually on their sewer bills?

The board wasn’t scheduled to vote on the sewer fee, which brings in about $7 million a year. But based on the discussion, there appears little appetite to kill it.

County Commissioner Larry Brown, the coalition’s board chairman, argued that even with the pipeline dead, the money would be needed to fund the Water Coalition for whatever purpose it ultimately serves. “I say we keep the user fees until we have a firm, good direction and firm, good policy on what we plan on being.”

•••

County Commissioner Tom Collins was at the Legislature last week, lobbying on behalf of a private entity. He said he got a green light from the district attorney’s office, but on Friday he learned state law prohibits elected officials from being paid to lobby.

“Luckily for me, all I talked about were things related to Clark County,” Collins said.

What does he mean by that?

Collins said while in Carson City, he talked to no one about Tuffy Ranch Properties LLC. He was registered to lobby for that company on “power lines, electricity and green energy — but none of it in Clark County,” he said.

Tuffy is part of Wingfield Nevada Group Management LLC, which is run by Harvey Whittemore. Whittemore is the primary developer of Coyote Springs, which has had water-rights dealings with the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Collins also sits on the Water Authority board.

After getting clarification on state law, Collins reasoned that had he talked about Tuffy Ranch issues, and not county matters, that could have been a problem.

NRS 218.942 says: “an elected officer or employee of a political subdivision shall not receive compensation or reimbursement other than from the State or the political subdivision for personally engaging in lobbying.”

Shouldn’t he have known or someone have warned him about the state law?

Collins said he got the verbal OK from the district attorney’s office when he told them that he was starting a consulting business. He did not, he add, specifically say he would be lobbying. He said the office told him his consulting business was “fine, as long as you disclose it.”

Collins said another lobbyist questioned his right to lobby.

“He said, ‘Are you sure you can do that?’ ” Collins recalled. “And I thought it was all fine.”

How does this play out now?

Collins said he’s sure someone will bring it up during his next election. He could also face an ethics complaint.