Study Underway For Sewage Rate Increase

If you blinked, you probably missed it.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting was over in less than 30 minutes thanks in part to an empty agenda and an absence of any controversial topics.

The 15-item agenda became even shorter when two minor items were pulled and another item was left blank on the agenda.

Mayor Pro-Tem Bubba Smith was at the helm on Tuesday, explaining that mayor Susan Holecheck was once again in Washington, D.C., this time as a member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The truncated agenda included six items on the Consent Agenda, which shrunk to five after a request for a Privileged Business License for a locksmith was removed while the city sought more paperwork for the application.

One of the undiscussed issues on the Consent Agenda included the hiring of an outside law firm to represent the city in a simple dispute between Gentiva Pipe, a subcontractor on the Santa Teresa Estates project in southwest Mesquite, and Santa Teresa’s developer.

Both parties, which are locked in lawsuits over whether the subcontract was paid, are requesting that the city release a “Letter of Credit” filed by the developer.

The city has retained the law firm of Watson Rounds at the rate of $300 per hour for partners and $175 per hour for associates to handle the case.

The council did not explain why the city needed to use outside council instead of city attorney Cheryl Hunt for what the law firm referred to as “instant lawsuits.”

The council also used the Consent Agenda to approve a contract with local architect R. P. Heim to design the new addition at the Mesquite Senior Center.

The city will pay $49,800 for Heim to design the 3,000 square foot addition.

His fees will be paid from a CDBG Block Grant the city has secured for the project.

With the Consent Agenda completed, the city quickly dispensed with two proclamations.

The first was the city’s annual designation of “H.O.M.E. Week” to celebrate the 31-month battle between members of “Help Our Moral Environment” and a pornography shop which opened in 1993.

For 31 months, volunteers picketed the porn shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the business closed in 1995.

H.O.M.E. week will run from March 22 to March 29 in Mesquite.

The other resolution was a procedural action to notify the Clark County Debt Management Commission about the city’s intent to borrow up to $23 million for a new project to expand the city’s sewage treatment plant.

The project will be backed by a General Obligation bond.

The project comes with curious timing.

Again, the council did not discuss why the city’s current sewage treatment plant, which is presently operating at only 65% of capacity, needed the $23 million expansion.

A previous study indicated that future growth would require an expansion.

However, with the current recession and collapse of the real estate market in Mesquite and around the country, there is currently little growth in the city, and no expectations of an upturn anytime soon.

Also, the city is currently doing a rate study, which is usually a precursor to a rate increase.

A rate increase will be almost guaranteed as the city will need to raise money to pay off the bonds and loans for the project.

This expected rate increase comes at a time when recession-weary residents can least afford it, and comes on the heels of a rate increase by the Virgin Valley Water District and an impending rate increase by the Overton Power District.

The council also heard a report from associate planner John Willis on the city’s Environmental Planning activities, including the city’s participation in the Yucca Mountain Advisory Committee, participation in the Regional Open Space and Trails Workgroup which affects the Las Vegas Valley, and a river restoration project being done behind the Hughes Middle School with the Partners In Conservation group.

Willis also reported on the city’s participation with the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, and the Virgin River Habitat Conservation and Recovery Plan.

Part of the Habitat Conservation Plan includes a mechanism where the city collects $550 per residential lot along with all the other fees collected when building permits are filed.

The $550 goes into a “mitigation fund.”

Thanks to the mitigation fund, the city is permitted to disturb desert tortoise habitat for construction and development.

Money from the fund is to be used to “mitigate” the disturbances, including relocation of affected species and measures to create and protect other habitats for the creatures.

Tuesday’s meeting ended at 5:30 p.m.