IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Robert Ferraro, Chair, City of Boulder City
Commissioner Myrna Williams, Vice Chair, Clark County
Mayor Oscar Goodman, City of Las Vegas
Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers, City of Henderson
Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, City of North Las Vegas - via phone conference
Councilman Shari Buck, City of North Las Vegas
Councilman Steve Kirk, City of Henderson
Susan Brager-Wellman, Alternate, Clark County School District
Mayor Robert Ferraro called the meeting of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to order at 3:08 p.m., Thursday, May 22, 2003, at the City of North Las Vegas City Hall, 2200 Civic Center Drive, North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030.
The agenda for the May 22, 2003, meeting was duly posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
A motion was made to approve the agenda. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the meeting minutes. The motion was approved unanimously. Mayor Ferraro requested that agenda item 8 be moved up on the agenda to be heard next. A motion was made move item 8 to be heard next on the agenda. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the SNRPC Proposed FY 2003 – 2004 Budget (Exhibit A) and a letter from Knight Allen, private citizen, regarding the new planner position (Exhibit B). Debra Soule, City of Boulder City, stated that two additional columns were added to the budget since the last Coalition meeting. The first added column reflects expenditures as of April 30, 2003 and the second reflects the projected expenditures as of the end of July 30, 2003. It is projected that all of the budget amounts will be expended with the exception of $25,000 contingency, $5,000 equipment allocation, $53,200 half year salary for the new planning position, and $8,688.24 for the professional services budget. The line items
for office supplies, postage, and printing are not included in the April 30, 2003. These amounts will be carried forward to FY 2003-2004. The submitted budget for 2003-2004 still includes the $135,000.00 allocation for professional services, the implementation of the work program, and the carry over amount of $8,688.24. The total proposed budget for FY 2003-2004 is $350,878.57. With the carryover amount included, the total amount required from the participating entities is $258,990.33; $898.67 less than last year’s contributions. Referring to the budget allocation for professional services and the implementation of the work program, Ms. Soule stated that given the lengthy list of items that require action from the SNRPC Policy Plan and those items identified at the Growth Summits, it is clear that the Coalition must prioritize and select the items that are most pressing and that can be addressed within the scope of this year’s budget. Because of the emphasis that was placed on parks and open space planning at the Growth Summits, the planning directors have revised next year’s work program and are now recommending that preparation of a regional parks and open space master plan be one of the first priorities for the new SNRPC planner. The planning directors are recommending that $68,688.24 be allocated in next year’s budget for professional services for a consultant who would develop an implementation strategy for this task. The Land Use Transportation and Air Quality (LUTAQ) systems model is still recommended for inclusion into next year’s budget. The planning directors have received notification that UNLV was successful in obtaining the grant funding for the model in the amount of $69,988.00. The LUTAQ systems model that was presented to the Coalition at their April 2003 meeting is considered to be an important inclusion in the budget. The model provides the entities with a tool to address over a quarter of the action items listed to achieve conformity. $75,000 is requested from the SNRPC for this project. Referring to Exhibit B, Mayor Goodman stated that Mr. Allen makes a valid point; therefore, Mayor Goodman requested to hear from the Technical Committee regarding if the SNRPC really need an addition staff person. John Sullard, Technical Chairman, stated that the recommendation from the Technical Committee is to have a professional staff person who is accountable to the SNRPC and not to one particular city. In addition, the staff position would relieve the burden on city and county staff who are currently working on SNRPC tasks. The new staff position would handle each of the SNRPC items in a more prioritized manner. The work program for the next FY is very ambitious and will require a full time staff person.
After lengthy discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approve the FY 2003-2004 budget. Councilman Kirk stated that he was not 100 percent comfortable approving money before discussing the new position’s responsibilities. Councilman Kirk suggested that the Coalition should discuss the responsibilities before approving a salary. Councilwoman Smith stated that the Coalition could approve the budget and agree in concept and “iron out” the details concerning the job responsibilities of the staff position later. Commissioner James suggested an amendment to the motion to approve the budget, not specifying the amount that would be directed to a planning position, and address the new position in agenda item 6. The motion was accepted with the amendment, seconded, and approved unanimously.
John Sullard, Boulder City, informed the members that all items from the Technical Committee meeting were forwarded to the Board’s agenda for today.
Mary Kay Peck, City of Henderson, stated that the Growth Summits have been concluded and the consultants are now in the process of completing their findings from the Summit meetings and organizing the principles that were supported and generally agreed upon during the Growth Summit's workshops. The consultants will present a series of principles and recommendations for consideration at the Coalition's July 2003 meeting. In addition, it is recommended that an invitation be mailed to all of the elected officials to attend the meeting so that they can see the outcome of the Growth Summits.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the report. The report was accepted unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the Proposed SNRPC Regional Planner Job Description (Exhibit C). Bob Genzer, City of Las Vegas, was asked to give a review. Mr. Genzer stated that at the last Coalition meeting a draft description was presented to the Board members. A final draft of the description (Exhibit C) has been approved by the Technical Committee and is before the Coalition Board today for approval. Referring to Exhibit C, page 1, under the Supervision Received and Exercised section, Mr. Genzer stated that the position would specifically receive administrative direction from the SNRPC Board. During the last Technical Committee meeting there was discussion regarding the work location of the position. Originally, it was thought that the position would move each year with the Chairmanship of the SNRPC. Directing the members to page 4, under Special Requirements, the language was change to state that the "work location may change each year, corresponding with the location of the SNRPC Technical Committee Chairman." In addition, questions were raised regarding forthcoming additional staff. Mr. Genzer stated that it was not the intent to hire any additional staff at this time. The only person that would be working under the planner would be the Coalition's secretary. For that reason, Mr. Genzer recommended that three additional words be added to the beginning of the sentence of item 8, page 2, stating that "Following Board approval" select professional . . . etc. Commissioner Williams suggested adding an item on the next Board agenda that would put in place a policy indicating that the current Board members do not intend for the staff to grow any larger than two people. Referring to page 1, item 6, Commissioner Williams suggested that the word manage be deleted from the description. Mr. Sullard recommended that the Central Function section of the description include an additional sentence, which states that "All central functions will be pursuant to the authorization of the SNRPC Board." Councilman Buck suggested that all of the language regarding central functions be deleted from the description. She stated that the purpose for approving the staff position was for planning only. Councilman Buck also asked whether one secretary and one planner could take on the responsibility of what all the staff from the different entities is currently doing. Mr. Sullard answered stating that a lot of input would continue to come from the staff; however, the function of the planner would be to organize the input and ensure it is presented in a cohesive staff report. There would still be work done by the staff of the different entities, but it would be significantly decreased. Mr. Sullard suggested that the description be revised to reflect the discussion from today. Mayor Ferraro suggested that agenda item 6 be tabled until a future meeting. Ms. Peck requested clarification of the direction for staff regarding this issue for next month's meeting. They are: 1) why is the staff position needed at this time; 2) what will the responsibilities include; i.e. job description; and 3) how will the staff position provide relief to existing staff.
A motion was made and seconded to hold agenda items 6 and 8 until the Coalition's next meeting. Discussion on the motion indicated that agenda item 8 was already approved. The motion was withdrawn. Another motion was made and seconded to hold agenda item 6 until the Coalition's next meeting. Clarification was requested regarding the amended motion on agenda item 8. The amendment included removing the staff position portion from the budget. Therefore, another motion was made to hold agenda item 6 and the staff position portion in item 8 until the next Coalition Board meeting. Mr. Sullard informed the members that the budget has to be submitted to the State by June 1, 2003; thus, the budget has to be adopted. However, the Coalition can still make a decision at a later meeting regarding the allocation for the staff position. Wherefore, the money will be included in the budget for the work program but not allocated specifically to the staff position. The motion was approved unanimously.Councilwoman Smith excused herself from the meeting at this point.
Each member received a copy of the Clark County's Nominations (Exhibit D) and City of Las Vegas Nominations (Exhibit E) for BLM Land Sales. Ron Gregory, Clark County, informed the members that the SNRPC Federal Lands Disposal Subcommittee met on April 30, 2003, and received a report on the Joint Selection nomination of approximately 243 acres of BLM land for the May 2004 land auction. The nominations were from Clark County and the City of Las Vegas.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the report. The motion was approved unanimously.
The next date, time and location were approved as above.
Regarding the LUTAQ systems model, Commissioner James stated that it is important that each jurisdiction have input into the systems model; therefore, he suggested that the Coalition Board receive an update report at each meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.