Mohave Daily News: Local

LAUGHLIN - Once again, the Community Development Committee heard that what a Las Vegas agency, the one providing sewer service, says on one hand doesn't match what it is doing - or really intends to do - to Laughlin on the other hand.

Another Las Vegas-based utility, a water district, also came under fire at the panel's Wednesday meeting after having apologized to the Laughlin Town Advisory Board the day before for a long-running water break.

Coupled together, it led at the committee meeting to expressions of outrage that Las Vegas interests intend to keep on strangling Laughlin. Neither the Clark County Water Reclamation (Sanitation) District nor the Las Vegas Valley Water District had representatives at the committee session. They did have their normal representatives give regular monthly reports at the board meeting.

The core of the disbelief at the committee meeting was that Laughlin's representative to the Clark County Water Reclamation (Sanitation) District's citizens advisory committee, Dick McCall, said he heard district management claim that although there would be an increase in the pumping capacity at the southern Casino Drive station, it wouldn't increase the limited number of dwelling units allowed in the community.

McCall urged that the committee's tape recording of a previous meeting be saved as proof that a district representative explained that improvements and upgrades at the station would add about 2,600 equivalent residential units. That contradicts, he said, statements made to him by district management.

The district just issued a call for bids - published in Las Vegas, but not Laughlin - to be opened Oct. 6 for engineering services for aeration pipe replacements, lift station No. 2 rehabilitation and a bleaching building. A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at the district office in Las Vegas.

There was slightly more than $1 million kept in the district's capital improvement budget for the Laughlin project, but some $8 million was removed.

Meanwhile, Citizen Co-Chair Jerry Kersey criticized the water district about the two-week-old water line break on River City Drive in Laughlin Estates.

Bronson Mack of the district told the Laughlin Town Advisory Board at its Tuesday meeting the break would be fixed by today, and apologized. He said the repair crew from Las Vegas had seven work orders that day, but didn't get to the River City break and admitted the crew should have.

The next afternoon he called News West to report the break had been fixed, after he went to the site following the town board meeting. He repeatedly apologized to the board, pointing out that what happened didn't come close to meeting the district's operating standards.

Kersey said he couldn't believe it would be more efficient and less expensive to have crews drive constantly from Las Vegas (a 200-mile round-trip) with all their equipment rather than stationing a crew in Laughlin with vehicles, parts and tools.

“They treat us like second-class citizens,” he complained.

Mack told the newspaper and board, “I guarantee we will provide excellent service for the Big Bend Water District.” He added the district will analyze the suggestion to contract with a local company do such repairs.

In a related matter, he said town board members and the town manager's office were provided with electronic copies of the final draft of the nine-page contract on Aug. 26 for the Las Vegas water district to take over the operation of the Big Bend Water District from the sanitation district. The contract was approved Sept. 2.

It was reported in the Sept. 10 Mohave Valley Daily News that Mack had not presented copies to the board at the meeting and that it was not on the committee's agenda.

The deal allows six months to complete the transfer. It is for 30 years, with seven employee positions allotted to Laughlin and LVVWD will use Big Bend's current service rules.

Big Bend and the sanitation district are governed by the Clark County Board of Commissioners. Big Bend and the LVVWD are equal members of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, whose general manager, Patricia Mulroy, also is the GM of the LVVWD. The LVVWD operates the city of Las Vegas and almost all the non-municipal water systems in the county.