IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Michael Montandon, Chair, City of North Las Vegas
Mike Dwyer, Bureau of Land Management
Mayor James Gibson, City of Henderson
Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, Clark County
Colonel Bob Lynn, alternate, Nellis Air Force Base
The meeting of the SNRPC Federal Lands Disposal Subcommittee was called to order by City of North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon, Chairman, at 11:05 a.m., Thursday, May 11, 2000, in the Joshua Conference Room, 6th Floor, at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89106.
The agenda for the May 11, 2000, meeting was duly posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
A motion was made to approve the May 11, 2000, agenda. This motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the January 27, 2000, meeting. This motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a packet containing a list identifying parcels of land for either land sale or R&PP reservation (Exhibit A). Alan Pinkerton, Clark County, stated that the land listed in the packet was approved by the Clark County Commission on May 2, 2000. The majority of the lands listed were previously approved through the Federal Lands Disposal Subcommittee process. He stated that the difference is that specific parcels have been identified for specific dates in an attempt to show a continuous and consistent acreage for each sale. The list includes approximately 300 additional acres that were previously omitted within Clark County's CD2 zone, which is land that is immediately adjacent to infrastructure. The land in identified as CD2 are highlighted in the packet. Clark County added an additional 50 acres to their November 2000 sale list. Mr. Pinkerton requested action to forward Clark County's list to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for disposal.
Mayor Montandon informed the members present that the City North Las Vegas signed a memorandum of understanding with the BLM to sell an 1199-acre of land on or before May 2001.
After discussion, it was motioned to approve Clark County's nominated lands for sale. This motion was approved unanimously.
Mayor Montandon stated that the next three agenda items (V, VI, and VII) are all relate to how the funds in the Special Account will be spent. Therefore, he suggested that these items be address together.
Bristol Ellington, City of Henderson, stated that the SNRPC Technical Committee, with approval from the Coalition Board, directed staff to work collaboratively to create a master list of all jurisdictions with an emphasis on regional commonality. The master list will be presented at the next Federal Lands Disposal Subcommittee meeting.
Kim Zikmund, Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), gave the members present a presentation on the Las Vegas Wash and the importance of acquiring specific properties for the long-term management of the Las Vegas Wash. (Exhibit D). She stated that in the past there has been individual effort that have looked at restoring the Las Vegas Wash and the water quality issues, but now this is a coordinated effort being lead by Clark County and the Las Vegas Wash Coordination committee. Ms. Zikmund gave an update on three milestones that the Coordination Committee has achieved. They are 1) the completion of the Las Vegas Wash Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan, 2) the development of an action plan, and 3) the creation of a Memo of Understanding, whereby the local agencies established a management structure for the long-term management of the Las Vegas Wash. Referring to a map (Exhibit E), Ms. Zikmund indicated private owned property that needed to be acquired for a detention basin.
After discussion, no action was taken on this item.Mr. Pinkerton stated that the Secretary of Interior would be making a decision concerning disbursement of funds in the next few months. The BLM is required to enter into a cooperative agreement with federal, state, and local agencies prior to the transfer of any funds. Staff is proceeding in developing the cooperative agreement with the BLM using a model similar to the Joint
Selection Process. Funds may become available to Clark County. These funds will be used to acquire private land in the Wetlands Park, and a construction of trailhead facilities adjacent to the Wetlands Park. Units of local government will enter into a separate agreement with the BLM focused on this one project, which would be amended by the long-term agreement.
Each member received a copy of the Process for Allocation of the Special Account (Exhibit B) prior to the meeting. Referring to page 2 in Exhibit B, Mike Dwyer, BLM, stated that the flow chart is an overview of the process on how the expenditure of the Special Account funds is decided. Mr. Dwyer, stated that the allocation of the Special Account is a one-year process which begins in May 2000, with a call for nominations. He stated that, in contrast to the first round of land sales, this call for nominations would be made public to any interested individual or group. The nomination period is held for the months of May and June. The land related nominations are forwarded to working groups, who rank the nominations. The capital improvement nominations are forwarded to the capital improvements subcommittee. The parks, trails and natural areas nominations are forwarded to the parks, trails and natural areas subcommittee and the multi-species habitat conservation plan nominations are forwarded to the multi-species habitat conservation plan subcommittee. The working group consists of a representative from each of the four federal land management agencies in Nevada. They are the BLM, Forest Service, Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife. Also included is the State Land Commissioner, Pam Wilcox. An additional seat has been open on the working group to represent local government in Southern Nevada. The working groups reviews all nominations in consideration of the minimum criteria and once the nominations are qualified, the proposals are released for public comment. The public comment period is a two-month period, which does not include capital improvements. After the public comment period, the nominations will be reviewed by the Joint Resource Advisory Council (RAC) meeting. There are three RAC groups statewide. They are composed of citizen advisors appointed by the Secretary of the Interior for the BLM. The product of the RAC is sent back to the working group for ranking of the nominations. Concurrent with the public comment period and the joint RAC meeting, the sub-groups will meet to take action on proposals for other expenditures. Recommendations will be forwarded to the Mojave Southern Great Basin RAC. The preliminary recommendations would be made public via a public review of the preliminary recommendation package. The preliminary recommendations and the comments received are forwarded to the Executive Committee that consists of four members; they are the State Director of the BLM, and the Regional Director of the Forrest Service, Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service. They develop a final recommendation, which is forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, who makes the final decision of what is spent from the Special Account. Mr. Dwyer stated that presently in round one of the process, they have completed the development of a final recommendation. The final recommendation included
approximately 19 million dollars worth of land acquisitions, and 5 million dollars worth of capital improvements.
After discussion, Mr. Pinkerton distributed a copy of the Federal Partners Project Charter status update (Exhibit C). Exhibit C summarized the actions between the units of local government and the BLM. Mr. Pinkerton reviewed the actions and stated that on May 4, 2000, the units of local government met with the State Director, Bob Abby and Mike Dwyer and the outcome of the meeting is listed on Exhibit C. The BLM has incorporated more up-front involvement for the units of local government in terms of submitting proposed actions and commenting on potential projects than what is listed in the draft Process for Allocation of the Special Account. The BLM and federal agencies have identified the need to have local government representation on the Parks, Trails, and Natural Area subcommittee and at the working group level. However, two issues that remain are 1) unresolved expectations of local government representation at the executive committee level in the process, and 2) uncertainty regarding the decision criteria. The definition of the criteria and how it will relate to the units of local government is unclear for presenting projects that could be considered for funding through the process.
After discussion regarding the representation of local government, Mayor Montandon requested that the SNRPC make the recommendations for the four representatives allowed in the Special Account process.
After discussion regarding criteria of what projects can qualify for expenditures of Special Account funds, Mr. Dwyer stated that the Federal Partners Implementation Agreement is not yet available, but is expected to be completed in the near future.
Mr. Pinkerton, stated that the options for the units of local government concerning the units of local government remaining unresolved issues stated above are 1) unit of local government leaders collectively meet with BLM decision makers and develop Special Account procedures that can be agreed upon by all parties. 2) the units of local government enlist the support and aid of the federal delegation in bringing the federal agencies to the table to develop a process with the local governments represented on the executive committee. 3) The units of local government notify the BLM that lands previously identified for disposal need to be delisted to provide more time to consider land disposal priorities within local jurisdictions. Mr. Pinkerton stated that option number 1 would be the preferred option.
Mr. Dwyer suggested allowing the process run its full course for the 1st round, after which a meeting could be scheduled to review the effectiveness of the process. He stated that a sub-group of the working group will review and redevelop the criteria, if necessary, and he will ensure that a local representative is on the sub-group.
A motion was made to accept staff's recommendation and to schedule the meeting after the 1st round of the process to review the effectiveness of the process. This motion was approved unanimously.
Mayor Montandon, stated that the City of North Las Vegas is not a partner on the existing Interlocal Agreement for the Joint Selection process. He stated that one of reasons is the City of North Las Vegas did not feel that the process followed the intent of the law in the joint selection. The City of North Las Vegas and the BLM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to move forward in the first phase of selling 25% of the 7500 acre parcel in North Las Vegas. Mayor Montandon stated that if the Interlocal Agreement were modified he would support Clark County's desire to have the Joint Selection Process modified to eliminate the purchase of the reversionary interest from the process.
Answering a question posed by Mayor Gibson, as to the benefits of being a signature on the Interlocal Agreement, Ron Gregory, Clark County, informed the members that the benefits are the agreement assists in the communication process for each agency. It also provides agencies with the ability to review properties that may be recommended for disposal to determine if all or a portion of a property is needed for public purpose. Also, the flow chart (Exhibit B), allows the decision that are being made by the units of local government to be reviewed by the Federal Lands Subcommittee.
Concerning the letter received by the City of North Las Vegas regarding Clark County buying out reversionary interest in the Joint Selection process, Mr. Gregory stated that the letter was sent out to all the jurisdictions suggesting an abbreviated process for an unique situation in Clark County, and asking if the abbreviated process would be a problem.
After discussion, no action was taken on this item.
The members agreed to meet prior to the next land sales. Mayor Montandon stated that he would designate his assistant to coordinate a date and time in late June 2000, for the next meeting.
There were no public comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.