IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Robert Ferraro, City of Boulder City
Commissioner Myrna Williams, Clark County
Mayor Oscar Goodman, City of Las Vegas
Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, City of North Las Vegas
Councilman Shari Buck, City of North Las Vegas
Councilman Stephen Kirk, City of Henderson
Trustee Mary Beth Scow, Clark County School District
Mayor Robert Ferraro called the meeting of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to order at 3:10 p.m., Thursday, January 23, 2003, in Boulder City at the City Hall Council Chambers, 401 California Avenue, Boulder City, Nevada, 89005.
The agenda for the January 23, 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.
John Sullard, City of Boulder City, reported that all items discussed at the January 9, 2003, Technical Committee meeting were forwarded to today’s Coalition Board agenda.
A motion was made to accept the report. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to elect Mayor Bob Ferrero, City of Boulder City, as the Coalition Board Chair, and Commissioner Myrna Williams, Clark County, as the Vice Chair for the 2003 calendar year. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the SNRPC proposed budget for the fiscal year 2003-2004 (Exhibit A). Misty Haehn, City of North Las Vegas, reported that the SNRPC by-laws require that a preliminary budget is to be presented in January of each year. Referring to Exhibit A, Ms. Haehn stated that the budget reflects natural increases for the Coalition’s full time secretary. The office supplies amount was increased, the postage cost was reduced; printing, incidentals, and equipment cost remained the same. The cost for professional services/implementation of work program has not been finalized. The staff position is allocated with a top range of $80,000 plus benefits.
During discussion the Coalition requested to be involved in the interviewing and hiring process of the new staff person. The Coalition also recommended that a local search is made for someone with history in Southern Nevada. Ms. Haehn stated that staff is looking for an acceptance of the preliminary budget and will return with the finalized budget in April 2003.
A motion was made to accept the preliminary budget. The motion was accepted unanimously.
Ms. Haehn stated that it is once again Legislative time and the Technical Committee recommends Dan Musgrove, Clark County Intergovernmental Relations Manager, to serve as the SNRPC’s primary legislative contact for the 2003 Nevada State Legislature. Mr. Musgrove will represent the SNRPC on their bills and also monitor any proposed regional legislation.
Mary Kay Peck, City of Henderson, stated that during the last legislative session a Legislative Update Committee consisting of Mayor Oscar Goodman, Councilman Shari Buck, Chris Duerksen of Clarion Associates, and Mary Kay Peck of the City of Henderson, traveled to Carson City and successfully reported on the SNRPC activities to members of the 2001 Nevada State Legislature. The committee proved to be very effective; therefore, it would like to take the same tactic again this year with the same members. Answering a question regarding the travel expense for Mr. Duerksen, Ms. Peck stated that there was money left in the budget for his expenses.
A motion was made to approve the Legislative Update Committee to visit the State legislature. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve Dan Musgrove as the SNRPC’s primary legislative contact for the 2003 Nevada State Legislature. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of North Las Vegas’ Self-Assessment Report (Exhibit B). Ms. Haehn stated that the City of North Las Vegas is presenting an amendment to their Comprehensive Plan that essentially creates another land use category. The self-assessment meets the SNRPC Regional Plan Policy guidelines.
A motion was made to accept the report. The motion was accepted unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the conformity agreements for: Boulder City, the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, Nevada Power, the Regional Transportation Commission, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and Southwest Gas (Exhibit C). Mary Kay Peck reported that seven agreements are presented; one Tier I agreement (Boulder City) and six Tier II agreements. These agreements follow the same format as previously approved conformity agreements; which is to point out the things that are presently being done in accordance with conformity and to point out the things that will be done in the future in participation with the Coalition. Ms. Peck gave examples of conformity for each agreement listed above.
After discussion, a motion was made to accept the conformity agreements between the SNRPC member agencies and the SNRPC.
Each member received a copy of the slide presentation on the Homelessness Task Force Update (Exhibit D). Sabra Smith, City of Las Vegas, reported that the recent issues that have been the focus of the Homelessness Task Force (HTF) are 1) the Crisis Intervention Center (CIC); 2) Continuum of Care Grant process; 3) The Homeless Trust Fund; and 4) The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The CIC opened in 1994 as a one-stop-shop for supportive services for homeless individuals which were previously spread all over the Valley. Eleven service providers currently maintain services in the CIC and more service providers are planned up until the next couple of months. Recent figures demonstrate the need for the CIC. In December 2002, nearly 3,000 individuals accessed services at the CIC. This represents an increase of approximately 30% over the last month. Unfortunately, the existence of the CIC is in jeopardy due to the untimely exit of the Saint Vincent DePaul (SVDP) organization. As a result of the early exit of SVDP, HUD was unable to renew the federal funds that kept the CIC open. The CIC is currently being run by Catholic Charities under a 5 month bridge agreement that is due to expire February 28, 2003. Fortunately the City of Las Vegas and Clark County have reached a tentative agreement to jointly fund the CIC for an additional four months. This action would extend the contract with Catholic Charities from March 1 – June 30, 2003. A stable funding source remains the major obstacle to the operation of the CIC. The second issue that the HFT has been concerned with is the continuation of work on the Homelessness Trust Fund; the first strategy in the collaborative report entitled "Reducing Homelessness in southern Nevada: Five Best Ideas to make it Happen". Clark County Commissioner Gates placed a question regarding the establishment of a Homelessness Trust Fund on the ballot of November 2002. Question 11 asked voters to support an annual property tax of $.01 per $100 of assessed valuation to support homeless and low-income services. The result was 63% voted no and 36% voted yes. Despite the lack of steady funding sources, at the last HTF meeting, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith made a motion and the motion was accepted to proceed with the initial stages of establishing the trust fund. The work group will continue establishing the infrastructure necessary to support the trust fund. The third item is a report on the annual federal continuum of care process. Each year HUD makes funds available for a homeless shelter and services in a national competition known as the Continuum of Care Process. The process is a local collaboration which requires each community to come together and assess their needs and the gaps in needs for homeless services. Through this process service providers apply for funds directly and the community comes together to identify the gaps, puts it together in as one packet and submits it to HUD. This year Southern Nevada received 3.1 million dollars in federal continuum of care funds. The grants will be distributed directly to the services. Unfortunately, the funding stream is not secure. The forth and final issue is the support and implementation of an HMIS. The HMIS would serve as a tool that Southern Nevada could use to collect on-going data on homeless persons who use the services and would assist in identifying service needs and barriers to services and could also aid in the measurement of outcomes. In addition to all the benefits, HUD has mandated the system for implementation by October 2004. Communities that have not implemented the system by that date risk the loss of continuum care funds previously mentioned. Last year the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition (SNHC) in cooperation with the Howard W. Cannon Center for survey research applied for continuum of care funds to support HMIS implementation. The Cannon Center selected MetSYS for its application in 2002 at a cost of $450,000 over three years. Next month the SNHC will hear a presentation and the MetSYS HMIS application will again be eligible for submission to the continuum of care competition. The HTF voted to support this application and the funds for implementation of HIMIS in Southern Nevada.
After questions arose, Mr. Speight, Technical Committee member, suggested that the Coalition accept the report and forward it back to the Technical Committee to answer the questions and concerns that the Coalition has. The report will then be forwarded back to the Coalition for adoption is necessary.
Mayor Goodman directed the Technical Committee to try to come up with some type of solution as to how the HTF can "beat" these issues without the finances to take care of the core issue or discover if the HTF is just "spinning their wheels".
After further discussion, a motion was made to accept the report. The motion was approved unanimously.
The next date, time and location were approved as above.
There were no public comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:08 p.m.