By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU 
Elections

WASHINGTON -- State Sen. Dina Titus has chosen not to interrupt her campaign for Congress, and will skip the Democratic National Convention in Denver, an aide said Monday.

The candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat in the House "is going to stay in the district. She decided she could get a lot done here," spokesman Andrew Stoddard said.

Democrats are meeting from Aug. 25-28.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Jon Porter has already said he will not attend his party's national convention in St. Paul, Minn., from Sept. 1-4.

The Porter-Titus contest is among the most closely watched House races in the nation. The district once was evenly divided between the parties, but Democrats have gained a 25,000-head lead in registered voters.

The district includes Henderson, Boulder City, Laughlin, parts of Summerlin and portions of Clark County east of Las Vegas.

While the Democrats' main order of business in Denver will be to formally nominate Barack Obama for the presidency, conventions usually also offer chances for down-ticket Democrats to network.

But Titus would be wasting her time if she went to Denver, according to Mark Peplowski, a political science professor at the College of Southern Nevada.

"Dina and Jon don't need exposure among the rank and file" who will be at the conventions, Peplowski said.

"They are both working on the independent voters who will make all the difference in that race, and there aren't going to be many independents in Denver and St. Paul," he said.

Meanwhile, former university regent Jill Derby, the Democratic challenger in the 2nd Congressional District, plans to attend only the first two days of the convention, spokeswoman Kristen Cullen said.

Derby plans to meet with labor leaders and take part in an event sponsored by Emily's List, the political action committee that works to elect women to Congress.

Meeting with operatives in Denver "saves her a trip to Washington," Cullen said. "But she doesn't want to dedicate too much time there. She wants to spend time campaigning."

Like Porter, Rep. Dean Heller is skipping the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in favor of campaigning in the Northern Nevada-based district.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.

 Source: LVRJ.com

Hospital District Ballot Question
Town Hall meeting provides evidence that passions run high over proposal
by Fred Couzens The View News

Boulder City Hospital officials opened a hornet's nest of unrest July 30 when they held the first of what could be several Town Hall meetings concerning the Nov. 4 advisory question on whether a Boulder City Hospital District and tax should be created.

More than 70 local residents, many of whom were either hospital board members, hospital foundation members or employees, filled the Boulder City Library's two meeting rooms as Hospital Administrator Tom Maher kicked off the public relations campaign that stressed the need for a hospital district.

He mentioned the quantifiable benefits of having an open hospital -- easy emergency room access, first aid at events and public outreach on health aid -- and other pluses that can't be quantified, such as enhanced property values, the security of having quality health care close to home and a facility paramedics can access quickly in life-threatening situations.

"About 76 percent of the people we see are from Boulder City and the other 24 percent are from Henderson or are tourists," he said. "This is a limited growth market. Our demographics show 30 percent of our patients are over 65, which is twice the number of those in Nevada and the United States, and 60 percent are over 45, so we do have an aging population here."

Other than fighting market issues like the demographics, having a small service area, limited growth and proximity to the larger metropolitan area, Maher touched on "the challenges of cost cutting and revenue and price increases," billings that fall short when collected revenues are tallied, competition that leads to cost increases, subsidies that lead to financial viability, facility maintenance, and programs and services.

But the hornet's nest got stirred when Maher also talked about the 15-cent per $100 of assessed value tax and listed several "fear factor" issues if there was no hospital district.

Those issues include an average half-million-dollar loss for eight years, negative cash flow by 2012, elimination of nonrevenue generating activities like health fairs and flu shots, emergency surgeries and intensive care services, selling the facility to a private hospital corporation and "the consequence of closure" locally.

Some of the ripple effects from closing hospital doors, Maher said, would include the displacement of 43 long-term care patients, the loss of jobs for one-third of the staff that lives in Boulder City and the compromising of emergency/paramedic response.

The hospital estimates the 15-cent tax would generate $105 annually on a home with a $200,000 taxable value, and would raise $263 each year for a home with a taxable value of $500,000. Only property owners in Boulder City would be affected.

Even though most of those attending the Town Hall meeting expressed the view that the hospital was a luxury they could ill afford to lose, the estimates on the new tax burden didn't sit well. When it came to talking about taxes, property owners spoke out loud and clear.

"Why do the homeowners have to carry the burden?" asked Boulder City resident Mark Koenig. "Have you thought about a sales tax? I got my tax bill last week and if you add the 3 percent for their increase, my bill will go from $150 to $185. And each year it will go up 3 percent, so as a retired person in 10 years I'm going to have to pay $900 more in county tax for your program."

Koenig, who used to live in Alaska, mentioned a program there where people were taxed an extra half-cent of sales tax and "it worked out to be wonderful" because it taxed everybody, not just property owners.

At least three other speakers from the audience echoed Koenig's sentiment for seeking a sales tax increase instead of a property-based tax, a possibility Maher said could be studied.

"Yes, I'm willing to look at the sales tax increase," Maher told City Councilman Travis Chandler after the meeting. "The problem, though, with a sales tax is that it's not stable like the property tax, but I'm open to any alternative that will make this work."

Another speaker challenged the hospital trustees regarding their actions and reluctance to open the financial books to the public.

"You say you've had a ... shortfall since 2000, and you have this board, so why is it nothing has been done about this until now?" asked Jenny Tipton of Boulder City. "Will the financial statements... be available for Boulder City residents?"

"By appointment, you can come in and see the audited financial statements," Maher answered. "As for the first question, I've only been here 15 months so I can't speak for my predecessor."

When the questioning about the past -- the pre-Tom Maher era -- got heated, the administrator dodged all queries, saying he couldn't talk about what former administrator Kim Crandall did or didn't do.

Maher conceded to the group that the hospital district needs to go on in perpetuity and not be dissolved in 10 or 15 years, that the 15-cent rate could increase and that the Clark County Commission will be the controlling factor regarding tax distribution.

"There's no sunset clause on this," Maher said in response to a question. "If the voters of Boulder City want to close (the district), they can put it on the ballot. What this is is it's the issue of a small town hospital and the reality is that it has to be subsidized. Clark County will act as the hospital board of trustees..."

Some brought up insurance issues and the fact that some insurance companies don't recognize the hospital, while one woman made a bleak reference about a possible closure.

"If Boulder City Hospital closes, we're moving," said Melanie Springer, a Boulder City resident and hospital worker who verifies insurance coverages for patients. "The point is that if the facility is no longer in existence, my husband and I have made a plan to move. We won't live in a town without immediate medical service."

Summing up the Town Hall gathering, Maher said there was "a negative pall over the meeting" and estimated a 60-40 percentage split among those in attendance with the majority opposed to creating a hospital district.

Citizens' views solicited on more cell towers at lake
Park Service seeks input on plan to add as many as six new poles
by Fred Couzens The View News

Boulder City residents and other recreational users of Lake Mead have until Saturday to comment on the environmental assessment of a plan to add as many as six cell towers within or adjacent to intensely used places within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area possibly by the end of the year.

Currently, there are three cell tower sites in use within the park: a 180-foot tower in the River Mountains across Lakeshore Drive from the Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Plant, a 125-foot tower at Overton Beach and a 60-foot tower at Callville Bay.

"The primary purpose of this plan is to enhance communications within high-use areas of the park and to improve emergency response, visitor satisfaction, and employees' and residents' contact with outlying areas," the assessment states. "This plan intends to serve the interests of the public, concessioners (sic), and National Park Service employees by accommodating applications to provide cellular service in developed areas of the park. Lake Mead NRA receives numerous requests from Federal Communications Commission licensees to construct cell towers within the park to enhance communications and fulfill responsibilities associated with the FCC license."

It goes on to say, "In addition, Lake Mead NRA receives letters and comments from the public requesting that cellular service be made available within the park for safety and enjoyment purposes ... This plan would determine locations within the park where cellular service is desirable and appropriate, and ascertain the minimum tower height needed to provide the desired area coverage while minimizing impacts to park resources."

The 58-page document gives an assessment of where, how and why cell towers would be placed in certain locations, a description of the three alternatives -- no action and facilities up to 125 feet and up to 200 feet -- as well as looking at a number of environmental factors, such as soils and vegetation, wildlife, special status species and cultural resources.

Under the No Action option, no new sites would be approved, co-location on existing towers would be considered and approved until the towers reached capacity and, because of the size of the park, some areas would continue to go without coverage.

The preferred alternative in the eyes of many, a 125-foot-maximum tower, initially was determined to have the least impact on natural, cultural and historic resources.

Potentially acceptable sites would be those with previously disturbed land in proximity to existing access roads and utilities -- basically, places that see a lot of visitors -- and would be consistent with the park's plans.

Under this preferred alternative, the document states, "The NPS would consider proposals for new cell tower construction at Boulder Beach, Echo Bay, and Temple Bar on Lake Mead and Willow Beach, Cottonwood Cove and Katherine's Landing on Lake Mohave."

The footprint for each site would be 2,500 square feet -- no larger than 50 feet by 50 feet -- to accommodate not only the tower, but also associated support equipment shelters or trailers.

Each building would hold the equipment for the primary carrier and up to three more carriers, which would all be encouraged to enter into joint ventures for co-location.

"We would try to put them in where visitors congregate," said Mike Boyles, a NPS environmental compliance specialist, who helped write the assessment and noted stealth characteristics would not apply. "Palm trees really aren't indigenous to this area, so they would be somewhat obvious. These would all be in developed areas where there are already power lines and poles. The hope is that even though these would be taller, they won't stand out as much."

The other alternative -- the up to 200-foot tower that would be approved for the same six locations -- was rejected because it didn't offer any appreciably greater coverage than the 125-foot tower.

Two alternatives also were considered but were eliminated for different reasons.

A shorter option of allowing towers up to 100 feet was kicked out because there would not be effective co-location possibilities, resulting in what would be a greater number of sites that would provide a negative visual impact.

Yet another choice, towers more than 200 feet, wasn't considered because it, too, would have a visual impact, but it would also have to have lighting for aircraft purposes "and lighted towers can disrupt the orientation of migrating birds," the assessment states. Also, guide wires would be required, which "increase the risk of bird collisions."

Table 2 in the assessment provides a chart that compares the long-term impacts from the three alternatives and shows the 125-foot and 200-foot alternatives would have the same impacts, except that when it comes to "visual resources," the shorter tower would provide "moderate adverse impacts," where the higher tower would have "moderate to major adverse impacts."

Boyles said there currently are four carriers -- Verizon, Nextel, T-Mobile, and AT&T, which was formerly Cingular Wireless -- with AT&T the only carrier actively seeking additional sites at this time.

He said there would be more, which is why it's important to have a plan in place to address the potentially increasing need.

"This will go into effect after the comment period ends; we look at the comments and see if we need to address any of them," Boyles said. "Once that's done, the regional director can sign off on the document in a couple of weeks," which would implement the plan.

Those interested in viewing the environmental assessment can go to the NPS Web site at http://www.nps.gov/lame/parkmgmt/docs.htm and on the NPS park planning Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/.

Comments, which must be made by Saturday, can be made directly to the park planning Web site or delivered to Lake Mead NRA, Attention: Compliance Office, 601 Nevada Way, Boulder City, NV 89005.

Boulder City’s trash is one man’s treasure

Entrepreneur seeking council’s blessing to turn garbage into energy, money

Entrepreneur Mike Little has been trying to get his hands on Boulder City’s trash for eight months.

He hopes he’s now close to getting 50 tons of it, which he’s confident he can convert into cash.

On Tuesday, Little will attend the City Council meeting, at the invitation of Councilman Travis Chandler, to pursue the next step: getting city support to apply for a permit from the Southern Nevada Health District that would allow construction of a small trash-to-energy plant near the city landfill.

Little, president of Landfill Alternative, told the Boulder City Council in January that trash can be mechanically digested into compost that produces methane gas, which, in turn, can fuel a power generator.

He says rural Boulder City is an ideal place for his pilot project. The city landfill is nearly full and in need of a $5 million expansion — or a new one needs to be built. Little says he would save the city that expense because he would reduce the waste stream that needs to be buried.

Little is not asking the city for any money for the project. Just the garbage.

•••

Greg Danz emerged from Wednesday’s North Las Vegas redevelopment meeting with a blueprint in his hand and a smile on his face.

The owner of the Broadacres Swap Meet will be moving forward with plans to add an amphitheater and other facilities to the property on Las Vegas Boulevard North.

An overflow crowd turned out for the meeting, including hundreds of vendors who saw the fight to expand as a battle to keep their businesses. Danz was asking to be exempted from required 30-foot setbacks, as new codes require, because vendor spaces would be lost.

After the city Planning Commission turned him down, Danz successfully appealed to the City Council last week.

Danz said work will begin soon on improvements to the 31-year-old flea market as he made his way through swarms of well-wishers on his way to a celebratory dinner.

More than 20,000 people and 1,100 vendors attend the meet during busy weekends.

For George Moen, who has sold tools at the meet for 20 years, the decision brought a sigh of relief.

“It feels good,” he said as he strolled out of City Hall. “You’re under a lot of pressure when you’re trying to figure out your future.”

The future for Moen will be keeping his spot just inside the chain-link fence running along Las Vegas Boulevard North.

•••

The saga over allowing Boyd Gaming to build a casino near Interstate 215 and Losee Road in North Las Vegas will continue for about 90 days, at least.

A public hearing for the proposed gaming enterprise district in the undeveloped section of the growing city that began Wednesday has been continued until Nov. 5.

About 200 people wearing bright yellow “No More Casinos” buttons attended the meeting, some waiting outside in the heat for two hours for the chance to be heard. Others said the casino would bring entertainment and dining to the northern section of the city.

Boyd is asking to move previously approved casino plans from Centennial Parkway and Lamb Boulevard to the new site, part of the planned 60,000-resident Park Highlands community. Preliminary construction has begun.

The city’s decision on the 68-acre Boyd site will set the standard for gaming north of Interstate 215 in North Las Vegas. One casino, Aliante Station, is under construction about 3 1/2 miles west of the proposed Boyd casino, and is expected to open this year.

Station Casinos also owns 54 acres adjacent to the Boyd site. That area has not been approved for gaming, although a proposal is moving through city government.