Kurt Fritsch, Vice Chair, City of North Las Vegas
John Sullard, City of Boulder City
Doug Shelby, Alternate, City of Las Vegas
Richard Holmes, Alternate, Clark County
Bonnie Rinaldi, Alternate, City of Henderson
The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition Technical Committee meeting was called to order by Kurt Fritsch, Vice Chair, Chair, at 4:05 p.m., on Thursday, February 8, 2001, in the Clark County Organizational Development Center Conference Room #3, 1st Floor, at the Clark County Government Center, 500 South Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89106.
The Agenda for the February 8, 2001, meeting was duly posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
A motion was made to approve the February 8, 2001, agenda. This motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the January 11, 2001, meeting. This motion was approved unanimously.
Mr. Fritsch gave an overview of the discussion held at the January 25, 2001, SNRPC Board meeting.
Action was taken at that meeting to accept the Southern Nevada Regional Policy Plan and forward it to the member entities to hold ratification hearings; a hearing date was set for February 22, 2001, for the adoption of the Regional Policy Plan; approval was made to hold the SNRPC meetings at the Las Vegas Valley Water District beginning in March 2001, on the fourth Thursday of each month;and a decision was made to proceed worth the SNRPC budget option 2, the hiring of a consultant, and that staff provide additional information on this option.
A. Receive Regional Policy Plan and review the ratification process.
B. Review other planning consultant activities.Greg Dale, Consultant with Clarion Associates, gave an update on planning consultant activities.
He stated that the consultants have been presenting the Regional Policy Plan to the various jurisdictions. Clark County, Boulder City, North Las Vegas, and the City of Las Vegas have ratified the Plan. He is scheduled to present the Plan to the Clark County School Board tonight. The city of Henderson will receive the presentation at their City council meeting scheduled for February 20, 2001. Mr. Dale stated that everything has gone well and he is very optimistic. Mary Kay Peck, City of Henderson, stated that the consultants will be attending the Coalition meeting on February 22, 2001, and the Planning Directors will begin working on projects of regional significance before the February 22, 2001, meeting. The consultants will create a work program on how to accomplish the task in order to meet the July 1, 2001, deadline.A motion was made to accept the report and forward it to the Coalition's next agenda. This motion was approved unanimously.
Chris Robinson, Clark County Health District, informed the members that the air Quality Transition Management Committee met on February 1, 2001, and received a presentation from consultants, Hobbs, Ong and Associates, regarding the current status of establishing a new air quality agency. The Air Quality subcommittee met just prior to today's technical Committee meeting and also received a presentation from the consultants on this issue. Both groups recommended that an inter-local agreement for the creation of a new air quality agency be prepared and to present their recommendations to the coalition at their February 22, 2001, meeting. In addition, both groups recommended that the contract for Hobbs, Ong, and Associates be amended to review potential funding alternatives.
Betsy Fretwell, City of Las Vegas, stated that the 71st Session of the Nevada Legislature began on Monday, February 5, 2001, and there are a variety of bills being scheduled. A bill presented by the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association has been brought to her attention. The bill is related to requiring local governments to create landscape maintenance districts at the homeowners' request. There will be a variety of bills drafted; however, none have been presented at this time that affects the Regional Policy Plan. The Air Quality bill may be the first bill drafted and presented on behalf of the SNRPC.
No motion was taken on this item.
Each member received a packet with information regarding the presentation on the restructuring of the electric industry (Exhibit A). Mr. George Caan, Director of the Colorado River Commission, and Mr. Dick Wimmer, representing the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), gave the presentation. Mr. Caan's presentation addressed why the move for restructuring; what the new model looks like; and what the choices and challenges are concerning this issue. Mr. Wimmer's presentation addressed the challenges facing Nevada, what is needed to meet the challenges, and other alternatives regarding electric restructuring. Richard Holmes stated that Commissioner Herrera has requested that this item be placed on the Coalition's February 22, 2001, agenda. Phil Rosenquist, Clark County, distributed a resolution (Exhibit B) to each member. He stated that the resolution incorporates a motion that was approved by the Clark County Commission which, 1) urges the Public Utilities Commission to deny, delay, or condition the diveriture of power plants until the regional power problems have been stabilized or a more effective solution can be determined; 2) urges the legislature to delay deregulation until markets are favorable, 3) supports the Consumer Driven Utility Model and directs staff to work with the SNWA and other local governments to develop this and other long-term power solutions for Southern Nevada, and 4) recommends that long-term energy conservation plans and policies be developed. Mr. Rosenquist stated that Commissioner Herrera requested that this resolution be added as a companion item to this issue. The members agreed to add additional signature lines to the resolution to include all SNRPC participating jurisdictions.
No action was taken on this item.
Dennis Bechtel, Clark County, gave an update on the Nuclear Waste/Yucca Mountain impact study. Each member received a copy of an update memorandum (Exhibit C), a document listing background, advantages, and recommendations to the SNRPC regarding this issue (Exhibit D), and a copy of a resolution to be considered by the SNRPC to coordinate strategies on Yucca Mountain (Exhibit E). Mr. Bechtel stated that the Secretary of Energy is scheduled to make a recommendation to the President on the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site for nuclear waste storage. Accompanying that decision is the draft environmental impact study that was presented to the Technical Committee and the Coalition Board last year. Clark County is in the process of developing an impact assessment report, which covers the key issues that would affect Southern Nevada if Yucca Mountain is designated as the site for nuclear waste storage. He stated that staff believes that the SNRPC offers an opportunity for the jurisdictions to dialog on these key issues.
Mr. Bechtel requested that consideration be given to establish a subcommittee through the SNRPC, to include the City of Mesquite, to address this issue.After discussion, a motion was made to forward this item to the Coalition's next agenda, and to establish the option to designate a subcommittee of other elected officials, or that optional language be prepared that would allow the Coalition to serve as the committee with recommendations forwarded from the Technical Committee. The motion was that both options be presented to the Coalition. In addition, it was requested that the additional signature lines be added to the resolution to include all participating jurisdictions. This motion was approved unanimously.
John Schlegel, Clark County, informed the members that staff had been directed to explore alternative methods of transferring the Clark County A-95 Clearinghouse Council functions to the Coalition. He stated that the Clearinghouse continues to have problems establishing a quorum. During the year of 2000, a quorum was established 4 out of 12 scheduled meetings. In addition, this far in 2001, only one meeting could be held. Today a quorum was acquired 40 minutes later than the scheduled time posted. Options that have been established require amending the Nevada Revised Statute (NRS). Mr. Schlegel stated that staff is requesting that the SNRPC endorse the idea of amending state law that would remove the provision that mandates the Clearinghouse council as a subcommittee of the SNRPC with its current membership.
After discussion, a motion was made to forward the issue to the Coalition's next agenda to include proposed NRS language changes. This motion was approved unanimously.
The items for the February 22, 2001, SNRPC Board meeting are as follows:
- Homelessness task force
- Integrated Air Quality Agency
- Regional Policy Plan
- Legislative update
- Restructuring the electric industry
- Nuclear Waste/Yucca Mountain project
- Establishment of subcommittees
The technical Committee meeting was scheduled for March 8, 2001, 4:00 p.m., at the Las Vegas Water District.
No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item of the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on an agenda as an item upon which action may be taken.
There were no public comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m.