Commissioners gripe about lack of money for improvements

By Conor Shine

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 | 3:42 p.m.

What was expected to be a routine review of federal grant spending today turned into a venting session for several Clark County commissioners frustrated with how the county spends its capital improvement funds.

The debate emerged during a discussion about how to spend $22 million in federal Community Development Block Grants. Staff presented 12 project recommendations to be funded over the next five years, ranging in price from $350,000 to $5.5 million.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly criticized the way the projects were prioritized and said some of the funded projects are temporary fixes instead of needed long-term improvements that are regularly put off.

“You guys are patching my stuff up over here, and I don’t get it,” said Weekly, who represents District D in the county’s aging urban core.

As an example, Weekly pointed to $408,501 in development block grants allocated to modernize the 30-year-old Alexander Villas Park near Las Vegas Boulevard and Gowan Road.

“Based off some numbers I received, $400,000 will get you a decent looking parking lot with a couple of plants around it,” Weekly said. “I’m wondering, what is that going to do with the outdated playground equipment that’s not meeting ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements? What are we going to do with the open space that is undeveloped?”

Weekly’s concerns were echoed by Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Tom Collins, who also represent districts with aging infrastructure.

Giunchigliani said the county needs to reconsider how it prioritizes projects to receive capital improvement dollars, taking into account federal and county funding sources.

“We don’t maintain our facilities as we should,” she said. “If we need $5 million to rehab something, then lets find the money to do that instead of cobbling it together through (block grants).”

Finding money for improvements has been a challenge in recent years because of steep budget cuts during the recession that left little money to reinvest in county assets. A steady flow of millions of federal dollars a year to build parks has also slowed as sales of federal lands around the valley have dropped off.

The block grant program falls under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Projects recommended for funding by county staff included $5.5 million to build a Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas center and a Lutheran Social Services of Nevada community resource center on a campus near Boulder Highway and Desert Inn.

Also on the list are $2.4 million for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada to remodel and expand its kitchen and food pantry; $2.2 million to build a new facility at the Spring Mountain Residential Center for at-risk youth; $581,000 to build bathrooms at Desert Inn Park; and $2.6 million in improvements to Sandy Valley’s Peace Park. Eight project requests went unfunded.

The list of funded projects will likely change over the next month, as staff works to smooth over commissioners’ concerns. The commission will vote to approve the final project list at its meeting March 3.