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StumbleMayor says North Las Vegas seeing signs of recovery
Mayor Shari Buck gives annual State of the City Address
North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck speaks Jan. 21, 2010, during the State of the City Address at Texas Station.
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 | 7:40 p.m.
While the recession raged in Southern Nevada, 35 major businesses opened their doors in North Las Vegas, 12 others expanded substantially and 1,500 new business licenses — nearly half of them for home-based operations — were issued by the city.
That’s indicative of the beginning of recovery, North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck said today in her first State of the City Address at a North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce lunch attended by more than 750 people at Texas Station.
“It’s true that if we look around, it’s hard to see everything that is really going on around us,” Buck said in an upbeat 25-minute presentation. “But from where I’m standing, it looks like things are coming together. We are pleased with the strides we’ve made to diversify our economy and tax base.”
Buck freely passed out praise and thanks to several companies, fellow government leaders and organizations that have boosted the city with a population of more than 221,000. She also singled out several home-grown heroes and recounted their actions to help others.
Buck recognized 10-year-old Rachel Dean, who became the first North Las Vegan to receive the Girl Scouts Medal of Honor for rescuing a 4-year-old from drowning in a swimming pool while on vacation in Laughlin.
She applauded Michael, Maretta and Rona-Kay Tuitele, Sailini and Jay King, Dave Timoteo, Moana Thunken, Au Fonoimoana and Runi Tafeaga and the work of North Las Vegas-based Samoa O Nevada to collect 13,000 pounds of food, medical supplies and clothing to send to Samoa after a tsunami in September.
She also thanked Krystal Griffin and her 11-year-old son, Chazz Blunt, for helping a motorcycle accident victim at Craig Road and Decatur.
She also recognized North Las Vegas-based Vision Airlines for assisting with the airlift of supplies to Haiti after the cataclysmic earthquake earlier this month.
Buck acknowledged the city’s problems but said she’s optimistic.
“Just a few years ago, our property values were soaring, our employment was leading the nation and housing starts were leading the nation. Our economy seemed invulnerable,” she said.
“Now, North Las Vegas has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Bankruptcies abound,” she said. “The facts of this economy have been grim, but they have not led to despair. If anything, this turn of events has brought us together.”
She noted $8.6 million in federal funds being used for home-buyer assistance. The North Las Vegas Housing and Neighborhood Services Office brought banks, mortgage lenders and other community partners together to conduct four foreclosure workshops attended by more than 4,000 families. More than 600 families were assisted with loan modifications, she said.
“We know people out there are still struggling,” she said. “We know our work is not done.”
Business and economic development also are part of the recovery effort, she said.
Buck said in the past 18 months, 11,500 acres — 18 square miles of the Apex Industrial Park — have been annexed into the city.
The City View Business Park within Apex has been designated a foreign trade zone, which allows companies to import, produce and export merchandise without paying tariffs or encountering delays resulting from U.S. Customs inspections. The designation is expected to attract industrial and manufacturing businesses, assembly plants and major distribution centers.
In addition, the area is expected to be the site of a 154-acre solar farm that would produce 55,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year, enough to power 5,000 homes.
The 35 businesses new to North Las Vegas totaled more than 600,000 square feet and included a 141,037-square-foot Home Depot and a 101,981-square-foot Southwest Gas Co. facility. Pan Western Corp. and Priority Plastics also had 100,000-square-foot expansions.
While there were 1,539 new business licenses issued through November 2009, that total was a 2.1 percent decline from the number of licenses issued in 2008 and well off the record 2,461 issued in 2007.
Buck, who last year became the first woman elected mayor of North Las Vegas after spending 10 years on the City Council, also noted major government-backed projects in the community.
“As a city, we know government can’t be the answer to all the problems our residents encounter,” Buck said. “But we can make decisions and choose projects that bring us together, that meet our most pressing needs and improve our quality of life.”
Despite tight municipal budgets, North Las Vegas is beefing up public safety.
Construction on a $9.4 million fire station on two acres at City View Park on Cheyenne Avenue begins in the fall and two other stations are being upgraded.
A new $2.3 million police command center is being built this year at Centennial Parkway and Palmer Street.
The city’s new $240 million water reclamation facility, capable of treating 25 million gallons of wastewater a day — the estimated amount generated by 300,000 people — is half finished and expected to be completed in 2011.
The $27 million Sky View Multi-Generational Center also will be completed this year.
The first phase of the city’s largest transportation project, the $121 million North Fifth Street super arterial roadway, ultimately will link Owens Avenue with the Northern Beltway. The current phase runs from Owens to Cheyenne Avenue and includes a roundabout where Fifth Street, Las Vegas Boulevard North and Main Street converge.
The $400 million federal Veterans Hospital is under way and will provide 90 hospital beds and a 120-bed assisted-living facility for military veterans, she said.
On the parks front, Buck said, the first phase of the Craig Ranch Regional Park, funded by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, will be completed in November.
The first phase includes construction of trails, a dog park, playgrounds and a picnic area. The second phase, which will begin by fall, includes sports fields, an amphitheater, a skate park and a central plaza.
Buck said the city also is working with Las Vegas and Clark County on the creation of an urban national park or monument to preserve Ice Age-era fossils.
But the biggest improvement may be in downtown North Las Vegas.
The City Council in 2009 adopted a master plan for downtown celebrating the city’s cultural and historic heritage. It includes plazas, entertainment venues and a cultural center and features a mix of residential, retail and professional spaces and dining areas.
The cornerstone of downtown revitalization, she said, is the construction of a $132 million City Hall on 12 acres next to the Silver Nugget on Las Vegas Boulevard North. It is expected to be completed in October 2011.
It will be the city’s first LEED-certified building. The nine-story building will bring nearly every city department under one roof. “The tower has already changed our skyline,” Buck said.
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Isn't Pan Western going under???My fault their expansion was moving most of their equpment to Ricthie Bros.in North Las Vegas n showing almost all of their employees the door...and the ones they kept they cut their wages.Way to go Moe!!!
Sadly, it's still best if you have an armed bodyguard with you if you're walking around NLV after dark.
Bet she has one, too.
please, the only reason north las vegas has any positive activity is the dumb luck that aliante is in its city limits.
it's also an election year...what ELSE is she going to say?
Theren is not 1 company that has moved into North Las vegas that has not regretted it!
Aliante Included!
rover what does that have to do with North Las Vegas?
You might have something worth listening to but try and keep it to relevant threads. What you're doing now is just watering down your points and making yourself look like a bitter person with an axe to grind.
The Mayor can gloat when she is responsible for bringing new businesses to N Las Vegas and getting some jobs going. This is all anyone cares about right now. No politician has a right to talk about ANYTHING ELSE right now..
her 10 years of being on the city council is a testimonial on how urban sprawl has affected the vegas area. nothing but overvaluated property for miles and miles and little revenue coming in. pity the poor taxpayers who have to foot the bill for the new city hall, police center, etc, etc.
Comment removed by moderator. Comment contained offensive language.
Jay from Las Vegas Paving now owns the Pan Western railyard as Moe couldn't pay his debts for LVP putting up the cash to build it.
That's why Moe had to get out of dodge BigDan
the question is what percent of land is generating all this new activity?
it SURE the heck isn't anything east of the 15 and north of lake mead.
Too bad NLV has the highest foreclosure rate in the Valley with a lot of new construction, such as townhomes and apartment buildings, on their way to becoming Section 8 housing. Our first house is in 89031, in what used to be a nice gated community. By 2007, a quarter of the houses were Section 8. It's probably more now, and the homes are worth so little now, average price $55,000, which makes it ripe for Section 8 investors.
Det..so you are saying that people on Section 8 are somehow bad people, and undesirable as neighbors?
Hey, redneck_43, Section 8 people are wonderful people. We have some in my neighborhood of Henderson, and I can assure you that we welcome people that have no clue how to maintain a yard, have barking mongrels, lunatic kids skateboarding around at night, junk cars parked out front with boom boxes blaring, mysterious visitors (drugs?)day and night.
They're as welcome as the Swine Flu. And you know it.
THAT WHERE ALL THE FELONS ARE, THE 3 STRIKE YOUR OUT ONCE FROM CA
ned...My sister and her husband lost thier home due to the economy and are now section 8 renters...I can assure you that they keep their yard maintained..have no barking mongrels..or none of the other things you mention. Good job generalizing all people down on their luck in these tough times. Why don't you just tell it like it is and say...wherever the blacks move in..that's where the problem is.
red
Your sister and husband are an exception to the rule and I'm sure there are others like them everywhere. They are one in a million. They had pride of ownership in their own home, so it stands to reason that they will keep that up in a rental property. But unfortunately, the majority of Section 8 renters are NOT like your sister because they don't give a crap. You can just about tell which houses have Section 8 renters in them when you drive thru any neighborhood, whether in Vegas or in any other city.
Red Neck....you are such a HYPOCRITE. Just read some of your comments from other articles....talk about generalizing and stereotyping. You should be ashamed of yourself.
x-ray what? go for it!