Kurt Fritsch, Chair, City of North Las Vegas
John Sullard, Vice Chair, City of Boulder City
Thom Reilly, Clark County
Phil Speight, City of Henderson
Virginia Valentine, City of Las Vegas
The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition Technical Committee meeting was called to order by Kurt Fritsch, Chair, at 4:18 p.m., on Thursday, April 11, 2002, in the Mead Conference Room #2, at the Las Vegas Valley Water District, 1001 South Valley View, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89153.
The Agenda for the April 11, 2002, meeting was duly posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
A motion was made to approve the April 11, 2002, agenda. This motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the March 14, 2002, meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.
Misty Haehn, City of North Las Vegas, stated that there were no items forwarded from the March 28, 2002, Coalition Board meeting.
Mary Kay Peck, City of Henderson, informed the members that the consultants would be in Las Vegas on April 24th and 25th, 2002, to meet with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and the Cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to discuss the conformity assessment process. Attempts are being made to schedule an appointment with the Department of Natural Resources. The conformity reviews are being handled in two steps: 1) an initial meeting to receive comments and give feedback, and 2) a final follow-up meeting to establish a conformity agreement. During their last visit, the consultants met with the Regional Transportation Commission, the Flood Control District, and the City of Henderson. The consultants are also scheduled to attend the April 25, 2002, Coalition meeting to give an update report.
A motion was made to accept the report. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the Southern Nevada Regional Policy Plan Self Assessment for the Bunkerville and Lone Mountain Secondary Trails Plans (Exhibit A). Jon Wardlaw, Clark County, stated that the conformity review for the Bunkerville and Lone Mountain Secondary Trails Plans are being submitted for consideration and should be tabled for Clark County's plan for conformance by the planning consultants at a future date. Mr. Wardlaw requested that this agenda item be forwarded to the Coalition Board.
A motion was made to accept the report. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the BCC Agenda Item, and Clark County Land Nominations for the May 2003 BLM land sale (Exhibit B). A copy of a map outlining the Spring 2002 nomination (Exhibit C) from the City of Las Vegas was distributed. Ron Gregory, Clark County, and Chris Knight, City of Las Vegas, gave the report. Mr. Gregory stated that Clark County has nominated approximately 325 acres for the May 2003 BLM land sale. In an effort to create greater efficiency in their nominating process, on March 5, 2002, the Board of County Commissioners approved an action which takes all remaining BLM land that is in the County's jurisdiction through the Joint Selection Process. This action allows the County to be more responsive to citizens' requests that wish to nominate land for sale. In addition, it allows the County to be more responsive to public entities that want to reserve land for public purpose. Mr. Knight stated that Exhibit C lists the land disposal that the planning staff is recommending to the City of Las Vegas City Council on April 17, 2002. The nomination, the largest that the City of Las Vegas has done thus far, is 622.5 net acres, excluding sites for the Clark County School District, parks, and public facilities. The area is in the joint selection area and is currently in Clark County. The County Commission approved disposal of the properties at their March 5, 2002, meeting. There will be a forthcoming annexation to the City of Las Vegas for the annexation of the land into the City of Las Vegas because it is located outside of the accepted areas per the interlocal agreement between Clark County and the City of Las Vegas. The proposal is a result of the developer, Focus Commercial Group's, proposal to develop a master plan community in the area. Mr. Knight reiterated that the nominations have not been approved by the City Council; therefore, are subject to change.
A motion was made to accept the report and forward it to the Coalition Board. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the Infill Development Report- Work Program Report (Exhibit D). Mr. Wardlaw stated that he was substituting for Design Workshop. He stated that a meeting was held today with the consultant to review the preliminary work program, the draft report, and some of the activities that are planned. Mr. Wardlaw stated that, at the request of the planning directors and the Coalition Board, the consultants have changed their scope of work to include more feedback to the Technical Committee and the Coalition Board. This would be in an effort to keep the members more abreast of the situation and to also get feedback in the process. Referring to Exhibit D, Mr. Wardlaw reviewed the dates and the tasks that the consultants are planning thru July 2002.
After discussion, a motion was made to accept the report and forward it to the Coalition Board. The motion was approved unanimously.
Each member received a copy of the report "Reducing Homelessness in Southern Nevada- Implementing the Five Best Ideas to Make It Happen" (Exhibit E), and a copy of a letter from Edward M. Atchison (Exhibit F). Bill Arent, City of Las Vegas, stated that the letter from Edward Atchison, Program Manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs, is in regard to his withdrawal from the Homelessness Task Force work group. Recognizing the importance of veterans, the Homelessness Task Force, at their meeting of March 21, 2002, directed the work group to solicit input from a veteran's liaison to serve in a formal capacity on the Homelessness Task Force. Steve Long, Deputy Executive Director for the Nevada Office of Veteran Services accepted the offer and will attend the next Task Force meeting, scheduled for April 18, 2002, at 3:30 p.m., in the City of Las Vegas Council Chambers. Another issue that would be considered at the next Task Force meeting is the replacement of Puna Mather with Christina Roth, both of MGM Mirage. Mr. Arent gave an overview on the changes in the revised report (Exhibit E). He stated that there were mainly three changes contemplated by the work group based on two recommendations that were not approved by the Task Force at their last meeting. Referring to Exhibit E, page 3, Mr. Arent stated that Recommendation 1E had been revised. It now reads as follows: The work group recommends that the Task Force approve a revised Trust Fund budget, with a maximum contribution from SNRPC local government entities not to exceed $75,000, and contingent on the prior receipt of technical assistance received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Recommendation 2, on the same page, has also been revised. It now reads as follows: The work group recommends that the Task Force support the adoption of a Community Voice Mail model, and to direct the work group to consider the use of a private, pro bono provider in lieu of an application to the Community Technology Institute, which would eliminate the need for any public funding at this time. If a private provider is unable to provide a service according to the Community Voice Mail model, the work group recommends that the Task Force direct the Southern Nevada Homeless Foundation to make application to the Community Technology Institute once required funds are secured. The third and final change is outlined on page 4, Recommendation 5. It now reads as follows: The work group recommends that the Homelessness Task Force encourage the local jurisdictions participating in the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to achieve, as a regional goal, 5% of all multifamily housing units receiving public subsidy, to be affordable to households earning 50% of the area median income.
A motion was made to accept the report and forward it to the Coalition Board. The motion was approved unanimously.
Agenda items V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX will be forwarded to the SNRPC Board agenda.
The meeting date and location for the Technical Committee was confirmed for April 25, 2002, 4:00 p.m., at the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
Mark Trinko, a private citizen, represents six jeep clubs, two ATV clubs, and eight motorcycle clubs; however, for this meeting he stated that he would be speaking on behalf of the OHV community. Mr. Trinko asked the Technical Committee to reconsider agenda item IX and to hold off on agenda item VI until the May meeting. He stated there are several situations with regards to both plans that need additional time beyond the two weeks for staff to continue working with the OHV community. Two of the Bunkerville Town Board members have indicated that they have not seen the plan and are wondering why there are no motorized trails in the plan. In regard to the Lone Mountain Plan, there are approximately four items that need to be revised at the staff level before it comes before the Technical Committee. Therefore, he requested an additional six weeks to work with staff rather than two weeks. Mr. Trinko stated that as we enter into the secondary trails plans for each of the towns within the County, that motorized be included. The two plans presented today do not include motorized. He stated that when the primary plan was developed, his group was told to stand back, hold off and wait and OHV would be considered. It is recognized that in urban towns there is not a lot of opportunity for motorized recreation; however, there are opportunities within the outlined areas. In conclusion, Mr. Trinko stated that the adjacent trails should be shown in the secondary trails plans even though they are not right within Lone Mountain; for example Little Red Rock.
Mr. Fritsch invited Mr. Trinko to meet with staff, and stated that the public comments would be forwarded to the Coalition Board.
Ellis Greene, a private citizen, also made comments regarding trails. He stated that he is a trail user and is the President of the Southern Nevada Regional Trails Partnership and the Committee Chairman for the Horse Council of Nevada. Mr. Greene stated that the City has recently approved the Recreational Trails Element, and the Transportation Trails Element for their Master Plan; recreation meaning horse and transportation meaning feet and bicycle. He commended the City of Las Vegas for their work and commends the County for their work on this plan. The work is extremely important although about 10-15 years too late in terms of trails. He stated that his purpose is not to delay; however, he would like to point out that there was a public input period and a lot of people gave their input. He stated that the input was incorporated; however, in his review of the plan he only saw one change. Hickam Avenue as it was in all of the other plans should be reinserted into this plan. Also, the red line on the plan to the south from Alexander is shown as equestrian and he would like the staff to revisit that designation because he believes that it should be an orange trail which means multi-purpose equestrian because mountain bikers and hikers use the trail all of the time. Mr. Greene concluded by making comments regarding the quality of the trail on the north side of Alexander Road going west. He stated that the trail would be extremely important because of the beltway that is being built. Mr. Greene stated that he would leave with staff e-mail regarding these topics from a meeting held the previous night.
Charles Musser stated that his family has a history in the Las Vegas Valley since 1907. Regarding the trails in the areas, he stated that the trails are mostly foot trails and wilderness. He showed maps of Arizona where wilderness was created, trails were eliminated, and sheep guzzlers had dried up. The people who needed to service the guzzlers were denied access and the animals died due to a lack of water. He stated that multi-purpose trails should be retained and mechanized transportation is used to get into those areas to service the guzzlers to maintain the wild life. He stated that we owe a debt of gratitude to the ranchers and people there that provided the wells and improved the water situation to allow wild life to exist. Mr. Musser stated that there are some 80 thousand ATV users who reside in the Valley and these people need to have access points all around the city. He concluded by asking that the members present to their Councils that all of the trails need to be kept open.
Art Dixon, a private citizen, stated that he is an amputee and without access to the roads he can’t get out to do anything. He is a hunter and fisherman and requires an ATV or an OHV to get out into the backcountry. He stated that if the roads were closed he would be deprived of being able to get out into the backcountry; therefore, he requests that the item be reconsidered and the roads kept open.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:53 p.m.