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Mesquite Technical Review Meeting
Mesquite City Hall10 E. Mesquite Blvd.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016; 1:30 PM
Minutes of a scheduled meeting of the City Council held on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 1:30 PM at City Hall. In attendance were Mayor Allan S. Litman, Council members David Ballweg, Rich Green, and Brian Wursten. Also in attendance were City Manager Andy Barton, City Attorney Robert Sweetin, City Liaison Aaron Baker, Finance Director David Empey, Development Director Richard Secrist, Public Works Director Bill Tanner, Athletics and Leisure Services Director, Nick Montoya, City Clerk Tracy Beck, other staff and 3 citizens.
Mayor Litman called the meeting to order at 1:30 PM and excused Council member George Rapson, and Geno Withelder. (Note: This meeting has been tape-recorded and will remain on file in the office of the City clerk for four (4) years for public examination).
Below is an agenda of all items scheduled to be considered. Unless otherwise stated, items may be taken out of the order presented on the agenda at the discretion of the Mayor and Council. Additionally, the Mayor and Council may combine two or more agenda items for consideration, and may remove an item from the agenda or delay discussion relating to an item on the agenda at any time. Public comment is limited to three minutes per person.
Public Comments1) Public Comment
Minutes:Mayor Litman opened up the meeting to Public Comments. There were no speakers.
Consent Agenda
Minutes:Mayor Litman asked if there were any questions or comments on Consent Agenda Items 2-6.
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There were none.
2) Consideration for Approval of the December 13, 2016 Regular City Council Meeting Agenda; and the following meeting minutes:
The November 1, 2016 Technical Review Meeting Minutes; The November 9, 2016 Special meeting on the City Charter. The November 9, 2016 Regular City Council Meeting. The November 15, 2016 Special meeting on the 2016 General Election
Canvass; The November 15, 2016 Technical Review Meeting; The November 22, 2016 Regular City Council Meeting.
- Public Comments - Discussion and Possible Action
3) Consideration of approval of:
a) Notification of Budget Transfersb) Notification of Budget Amendmentsc) Notification of Bills Paidd) Purchase Orderse) October 2016 Financial Statements
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
4) Consideration of Appointment of Chad Klein to the Architectural Review Committee.
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
5) Consideration of approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Mesquite Fire Rescue (MFR) and Mesquite Behavioral Health Center (MBHC)
- Public Comments- Discussion and Possible Action
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6) Consideration of granting easements to the Virgin Valley Water District along Riverside Road near the Waste Water Treatment Plant and the NDOT SR 170 Bridge.
- Public Comments- Discussion and Possible Action
Special Items7) Presentation of Trophies for the Parade of Lights Winners.
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and stated.
Mayor Litman: I will be judging with some other people, I guess. The Salvation Army, also, this Thursday evening at 4:45, I believe, for that, and then we'll make the presentations at the Council Meeting.
Male Voice: What time does that start?
Council member Ballweg: It's supposed to muster at 5.
Mayor Litman: 5:30 for the parade.
Council member Ballweg: It's supposed to muster at the location at 5.
Mayor Litman: 4:45. I'm going to judge at 4:45.
8) Presentation by Hinton Burdick CPA's & Advisors, and acceptance of theCity of Mesquite FY 2015-2016 annual audited financial report.- Presentation- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and asked if there were any questions or comments.
Minutes:Mr. Empey: I have not received the final draft of the final report. I have received some initial drafts, but I think they're waiting on another thing or two, you know. It's not going to change the opinion, but as soon as I get the final draft from them, I'll forward that electronically to all of the Council members and then make hard copies available to you and the public for whoever desires to have a copy there. It will be somewhat limited in supply there, but I'll forward that to you as soon as it becomes available to me. I'm anticipating it within the next couple of days.
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Resolutions & Proclamations9) Consideration of a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mesquite
(City) approving the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions and Reservation of Easements between the City and Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (LVCCLD), terminating the existing Inter-local Agreement between the parties and approving a new Inter-local Agreement between the parties for maintenance of LVCCLD property.
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Aaron Baker.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: What we have here is we have an original inter-local agreement with the City for some terms of who is going to be responsible for what, some other conditions that would go with the property. The City would claw back the property if they tried to sell it, or they would compensate the City for the difference. A few of those provisions were in an inter-local agreement, and they said, we'd like to formalize this in the Codes, Conditions and Restrictions, a new agreement. So that replaces the existing inter-local agreement.
And then we're also doing a new inter-local agreement that would allow our crews to be compensated for maintaining the landscaping at the existing library site only. It's not for the new, it's for the existing. Which our crews already do, but now they'll be compensated for it.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: Do you know the amount we're going to receive?
Minutes:Mr. Montoya: It will be $9,600.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: $800 a month, $9,600 a year. And that will go in the fund where they also get paid by NDOT to maintain the Visitors Center, so those funds will go into the same pot, so you'll be able to see – for taking care of other government properties, what kind of revenue is coming in as a result. So Nick has worked with them on that, and it's great to have him do that.
10) Consideration of Resolution 912 of the City Council of the City of Mesquite (City) approving a lease between the City of Mesquite and Danville Services for a 3,530 square foot City-owned building located at 718 Hardy Way (APN: 001-08-201-004) and other matters properly related thereto.
- Public Hearing- Discussion and Possible Action
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Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Nick Montoya.
Mr. Montoya: It's Aaron and I.
Mayor Litman: Okay. Danville Services is the facility that takes care of our disabled youth and adults.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: So they are currently at the campus, and they are looking to move to the City-owned facility up on Hardy Way, 718. That way, they would free up their space down at the campus, but more importantly, it would help them better serve their program. Some of their participants – there's not a restroom in any of their facilities, and the City-owned facility would allow them to have two restrooms there. Because what will happen is sometimes they won't make it to the restroom in time, and this is probably the best way of putting that. So they would have a better facility to better serve the needs.
We have a tentative lease agreement drafted. I have a copy, if you would like. It's not – the piece that's missing from this is the fee schedule. We are still working out the final details and that's Exhibit B. You'll notice Exhibit B is missing on the fee schedule. But it follows our standard commercial lease for property. It's a five-year term, three years with a two-year extension option there.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: Do you have an approximation what you're looking for per square for lease?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: We have not reached a final agreed upon price.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: Okay, is there a target? I mean, is there a typical target by the City?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: It would be less than fair market value. For Danville Services, it needs to be less than fair market value.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: I understand that, but I mean, are we talking somewhere – I know it's not going to be $1 a square, probably. Are you talking about 50 cents a square?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: It is going to be less than 50.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: Currently we are at about 36, is it, Aaron?
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Minutes:Mr. Montoya: Currently on campus right now, it is 36 cents a square foot.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: We pay all utilities. The new arrangement is they will pay us a lease payment for the building. They will pay the taxes, which we don't currently get any property taxes for this property, so it will be brought back onto the rolls, which is good. And they'll also pay all of the utilities.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: And they will pay all the utilities?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: They will pay all utilities, and they will pay all of their own tenant improvements.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: How does it go back – could you quickly tell us how it goes back on the tax rolls? Because the City still owns it.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: Right, but NRS states that if a municipal property is owned or leased by a private entity, or an entity is not a non-profit or somehow exempt, you have to put that property back on the rolls.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: They are not a non-profit, then?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: They are a for-profit entity.
Minutes:Council member Green: And that building is not currently being used, I assume?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: Correct, it is vacant.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: It has been vacant for about five or six years.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: We have had various City departments in there and a few other things there, but it seems like a good spot for them. They seem very excited about being able to take – and they want to take the whole building. We had some other people look at the building, some other government agencies, but they only wanted a portion of the building. So it's kind of like… But when they said, hey, we want the whole thing, and Nick started the conversation with them --
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Minutes:Council member Ballweg: And that's got a pretty good sized yard on it. Are they contemplating any use of that yard, or is that just -
Minutes:Mr. Baker: The outside area that they would use, not necessarily –
Council member Ballweg: Because it's all fenced in.
Mr. Baker: Right. But they're mainly focused on the building and being able to get from there to some of the other parks and go on walks.
Minutes:Mr. Montoya: They did ask if they could do some improvements outside, if they wanted to put grass out there so they could go out and play. Possibly some shade structures, and they would just have to follow all of the Codes and stuff that we needed to have if they were going to install those things.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: And that is at their expense, and they realize and acknowledge that.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: I am sure we can rent out the other space relatively quickly.
Minutes:Mr. Montoya: I've got other organizations that are looking at it already.
Mayor Litman: Of course.
Mr. Montoya: And this is going to better accommodate Danville Services and put them all in one location. Now they're at the campus, they're in three or four different rooms at different locations.
11) Consideration of Resolution 913. A revision of the “Burn Permit” Policy.
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Robert Sweetin.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: This is just what Council asked for. It's a Resolution attached to our Burn Permit requirements. They are identical to the current Burn Permit requirements. The only difference is there's not a prerequisite of a County Air Quality Permit. The Resolution also directs that the Fire Department will not consult or advise with Clark County Department of Air Quality in issuing
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the Air Quality Permits. So it's not much of a change. It's pretty much dead-on what Council asked for.
Minutes:Council member Wursten: Anybody can burn? Is that what we're…
MinutesMr. Sweetin: No, they would have to get a Burn Permit from the Mesquite Fire Department. And then the person would be responsible for also obtaining an Air Quality Permit from the County is they want to do it. So that – basically what was going on before, Councilman, is we have kind of merged those two things. So we were regulating both the County requirements and the City requirements.
Council member Wursten: Right.
Minutes:Chief Christopher: We will facilitate them going through Air Quality, giving them information. If I'm not mistaken before they come to us they have to have the Air Quality…
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: No, the way the Resolution reads is we would not even ask them about the Air Quality permit. That's completely up to them to get, and the Fire Departments only in charge of the Burn Permit.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: And this is limited to agricultural burning.
Council member Wursten: That's what I was after.
Council member Ballweg: I think that's what Brian was asking.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: Yeah, I mean, it would be – you could burn for any reason that currently is allowed under the Fire Code. The Fire Department would be in charge of regulating that burn, whether it's agricultural or not. Whether it's agricultural is an issue that the County might have. That's up to them and their lawyers to make a determination on.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: Are we going to advise them that they could be under penalty if they don't get the required Air Quality permits?
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: No. I mean, we can, but no, that's not going to be our responsibility. That will be the person's responsibility who wants to do a burn.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: As it is now, there's no disclaimer to them saying you could be in violation of Clark County Air Quality -
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Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: No, there is not. As this is drafted, no, there is not.
Council member Ballweg: Okay.
Department Reports12) Mayor's Comments
Minutes:Mayor Litman stated he had nothing.
13) City Council and Staff Reports
Minutes:Council members present had no items, as well as attending staff.
Administrative Items14) Consideration of Adoption of Bill No. 507 (Medical Marijuana Location
Restrictions) to amend Mesquite Municipal Code Section 9-15-8 Location Restrictions by inserting language to exempt schools, community facilities, and residential zones, from the separation requirements if they knowingly choose to locate closer to existing medical marijuana establishments.
- Public Hearing- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and asked if there any questions or comments. There were no speakers.
15) Consideration of Tentative Map Case No. TM-16-004 (Crescent Moon Unit 16 Subdivision) to approve an 89-lot, age-restricted, single-family subdivision on 16.58 acres at 1400 Oxbow Bend in the Anthem at Mesquite Planned Unit Development.
- Public Hearing - Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and asked if there were any questions or comments. There were no speakers.
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16) Consideration of hosting the 2017 Nevada League of Cities Annual Conference in Mesquite and other matters properly related thereto.
- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor read this item by its title and stated that Council member Withelder was going to speak on this.
Mayor Litman: We last held it here in Mesquite in 2011, for those of you that weren't here in 2011, and it was an extremely successful event in Mesquite. I believe that we used the Casablanca almost exclusively for that event.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: We did some stuff at the Eureka, but the Casablanca was the main host.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: They were the main host, and then the City I know we hosted an event at the Arts. We had a reception at the Arts.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: I just handed out a one-pager that the Nevada League of Cities put together that will be in the packet. I just got that. Council member Withelder asked that I include that and pass that out.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: Do we have a policy for how we are going to promote the location, or is that up to the League of Cities to select what facility?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: The League of Cities would work with both facilities and see what would work.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: So they are going to be responsible. The City's not going to be responsible?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: No, we are not responsible. They are looking for a financial contribution from the City of Mesquite, but no, they are responsible to operate it, to negotiate all of it.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: So they're going to negotiate the site, they're going to do rooms, everything?
Minutes:Mr. Baker: Yes.
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Minutes:Barbara Ellestad: Do we have a date?
Mr. Baker: No, we do not.
Mayor Litman: It's usually the second week of October, at least traditionally.
Mr. Baker: He's a little fudgy on those dates right now. He's looking to see if there's a better weekend for the facilities for a better price.
Council member Wursten: Probably the first two weeks and not the last two weeks.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: It's nice to have it back down here. It's good PR for the City.
17) Consideration of Approval of the Street Lane Index and Road Mileage Report for public roads within the City of Mesquite maintenance jurisdiction.
- Public Hearing- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Bill Tanner.
Minutes:Mr. Tanner: It is just the annual approval of our street mileage, and over last year – we do this every year in December, and then in January we certify with the State what our mileage reports are. And those are the maintenance dollars that come back from NDOT. Last year, we added 0.74 miles of maintained roads for the City, and a portion of that is Commerce Circle.
18) Consideration of Introduction of Bill 509 as Ordinance 509 to amend Mesquite Municipal Code 2-2-A Room Tax to reflect Clark County Code 4.08.015.
- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and asked if there were any questions or comments.
Mayor Litman: As you know, they raised their room tax there, which we don't benefit from, but…
Minutes:Barbara Ellestad: How much is it raising?
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Minutes:Mayor Litman: It is .5%. It's not the same as for the More Cops thing.
Minutes:Mr. Baker: This is actually Development Services thing, but if you want me to talk about the Bill, I can talk about the Bill. If you want to ask Jess about the nuts and bolts of the --
Minutes:Ms. Bickley: Does anyone have any questions? I can answer for you.
Minutes:Council member Green: We don't really have much choice, do we?
Minutes:Ms. Bickley: So there are two districts with this. Everybody in Clark County has – all properties have a .5% increase. There's also a stadium district that has an additional .88 increase, but we are exempt from that. So we don't have to pay that additional .88 to fund the stadium. So what we're being charged for is on the expansion of the convention center.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: Henderson gets stuck on the .88 and Boulder City will, too, but we don't, because we're out of the 25 mile, fortunately.
19) Consideration of the suspension of the collection of fees for the Virgin River Habitat and Recovery Program.
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and asked if there were any questions or comments.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: I will note, I have added a Resolution on this. I talked to Council member Ballweg about that. If anyone with more knowledge than I have on the Virgin River Habitat Conservation Plan wants to review that and make sure it's right. So far as I know, it's correct.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: I'll review it.
Mr. Sweetin: But it has to do with Clark County and the U.S. government not having a plan in place.
Council member Ballweg: Primarily, what it is, is in 2007, was the initial ordinance to collect the $500 per acre fee, and it's clearly stated as an interim fee, so since it's almost 10 years now, it's still collecting as interim. There is no Virgin River Habitat Plan, and the negotiations or discussions with Fish and Wildlife have been suspended for the plan. So we're going to
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suspend – my Resolution is to suspend the collection of the fees. There's no target to use them, and as of right now, there's no way to be able to get them out to use.
Minutes:Mr. Empey: Hopefully in the correspondence back and forth there will be some definitive guidance for us as to what to do with those impact fees. You know, what happens to them.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: My goal right now is just to suspend them, and then we'll have to deal with the next step of all the fees that are sitting in there.
Mayor Litman: That's going to be many years from now.
Minutes:Barbara Ellestad: I just want to piggyback on what Dave said and give all of you a little bit more background on this issue. Dave and I started fighting this fee in October of 2011. This is the most unfair action that ever took place in the City of Mesquite as far as being competitive with other areas in Clark County, and if you're not familiar with this at this point, let me fill you in on a few more details. This $500 fee is in addition to a $550 fee that Clark County charges everybody and goes into the Clark County Conversation Fund. In addition to the $550 fee for Clark County, the City has been imposing this $500 fee, which nobody else in Clark County has ever had to pay a second fee for conservation, and at one point, there was action underway to charge a third fee through the Water District, which would bring the approximate cost of grading one acre of land in Mesquite to over $1,500 compared to $550 in the rest of Clark County. That is the main reason Dave and I started – that's what brought our attention to this issue. That's why we started fighting it, and we have fought ever since. As soon as I was elected to the Water Board, there were two individuals before me on the Water Board who had fought the fee through the Water District, and I'm proud to say they left it for me to vote on, and I got voted to get rid of the Water District fee. And now I'm glad to see the new Councilman doing the same thing with the City, because this should have never been put in place. These are the kinds of things that we expect our elected officials to fight, not agree to. This has no basis in law, none. No basis in law. The plan was never written. I will say that there was $10 million – if you all don't remember this; I'm just here to refresh your memory because this is the most aggravating, angry issue I've ever had in my life, bar one other.
20) Consideration of Creation of a Community Education Advisory Board (CEAB) pursuant to Adopted Regulation of the State Board of Education R142-16.
- Public Comment- Discussion and Possible Action
MinutesMayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Robert Sweetin.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: The reason that this is on here is CEABs are no longer – the School District used to authorize CEABs. Those CEABs kind of started to become – they are mostly for rural areas,
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and they started to essentially become weird little political toys of the Trustee's, so the Legislature took them away from the School Board Trustees, so they are now local government appendages, which I think most people – it was a unanimous vote to do that. I think most folks were very happy about that. Just to kind of give you a heads up, we did get a call – I talked to the CEAB about this, they are aware of it. They let me know that the Trustee over our CEAB called them last week and said, hey, just so you know, you guys have to make a decision whether you want to go with the School District in running your CEAB or your City, and I'm going to remember which one you choose. And that is not even true. They can't even go through the District to get a CEAB. So I don't know where that's coming from.
They are upset. The Board of Trustees is upset that this is leaving their grasp. Now, the County has decided not to do CEABs at all, so Clark County Commission can grant CEABs in unincorporated parts of the County. Henderson, Boulder City, North Las Vegas and the City of Las Vegas will all be creating CEABs. So we are in that process.
What's proposed by this Resolution is to simply allow the CEAB in its current form. There would be an additional, just like we do for RTC and other boards and commissions, there would be an appointment by the Mayor of a member of the City Council to the CEAB. That would be a voting position. And then we have 90 days to pass an Ordinance creating a CEAB. What the long-term role and duties of the CEAB will be are kind of to be determined, because these organizational teams, these precinct teams, have so much power and control of the school, local budgeting and local hiring, that the CEABs role will kind of have to adjust in accordance with that.
Minutes:Council member Green: We have had a very active CEAB in the past.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: Yes. We have the strongest CEAB in the County.
Minutes:Council member Green: It has not been functioning as an arm of the Trustees. I've served on it, and I guarantee that. Susan Nathan was president (indiscernible), Amy Marshall has been very active.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: We really have done a good job. I think where they've been really hit up on these are unincorporated areas of Clark County. Moapa's – they basically told them no more CEAB, and so they got together and created their own community organization and are calling it a CEAB. We've talked with them, and they may work with our City CEAB quite frequently, because we have a lot of interests that align. Also, Bunkerville Elementary, Bowler Elementary, will be part of our CEAB, because we do serve -- Bowler Elementary serves students in Mesquite.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: The CEAB is going to be the same structure. It's just going to be now authorized by the City?
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Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: Correct.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: It's going to be a City Board now. It just recognizes actually the same individuals or structures; it's just now under our authority?
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: Correct. And the way this Resolution reads, as it stands at least for the next 90 days, the same bylaws that the CEAB has previously adopted will stay in effect. Their appointments, everything. I don't foresee, and I haven't heard any interest from Council, wanting to shake that up. I think once we know, which will be within the next 90 days, we'll know a lot more. For example, the schools have all appointed their organizational teams now. Those organizational team meetings will be happening within the next week or so, and I'll be attending those just as a member of the public.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: The City is just providing the authorization of - the organizational authorization?
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: Right. So an important point, for example, right now they rely on legal counsel from the School District attorney. I would be the legal counsel for the CEAB now. If they wanted to, you know, get some resources or a place to meet, and the school has a conflict, they probably couldn't go down to the School Board Trustee's Offices, like they could before. They'd come to City Hall.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: We just become the authority.
Minutes:Council member Green: They operate under the Opening Meeting Law. They post their agenda and everything?
Mr. Sweetin: Right.
Minutes:Mayor Litman: If you're following the RJ news on it, they're already in-fighting down there big time on this.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: There is more to come. I believe our CEAB, just kind of as a side note on that, will be very important, because January 16th is a deadline. The way the regulations read is there's a bunch of things that will reserve to the District, at least during year one of this reorganization. January 16th, we can go to the District, local precincts can. I think the CEAB really – that is what I envision their role kind of being is going on behalf of the City and saying – there were issues like lunch service, maintenance of the properties, things like that, that we want to take over. And Council member Hafen, before – I had a conversation with him and the Superintendent,
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and I don't think we're going to have any issue getting those things if we want them. We just need that organization in place to ask for it.
21) Consideration of Recreational Marijuana Business Licensing and Repeal of Mesquite Municipal Code 2-14-1(8).
-Discussion and Possible Action
Minutes:Mayor Litman read this item by its title and deferred to Robert Sweetin.
MinutesMr. Sweetin: It is actually Council member Withelder's item. Deep Roots came in and met with the Mayor and Andy and Council member Withelder earlier this week – or last week, maybe, and they essentially just want guidance as to what the City of Mesquite will do with regards to licensing recreational marijuana. Right now, the way the initiative petition reads, the City doesn't have any control over that. I think – nobody thinks that that will be the way it all flushes out once the legislature enacts it all; the City will have some licensing authority, just like it does with any other business. So what Deep Roots was essentially requesting is a position statement from the Council as to what their views are and whether they will license a recreational marijuana establishment, and if that is the case, then we would need to move forward on repealing a provision of our medical marijuana ordinance which specifically stated that Council decided that they would not allow recreational marijuana in Mesquite absent a referendum, even if approved by the petition that was happening in this election.
Now, I've heard, and just to clarify the point, I've heard from a number of people, well, in Mesquite, if you take the Mesquite precincts recreational marijuana laws, that would not be sufficient under our ordinance to say, well, that's a referendum. We'd actually have to hold a separate, which is the plan language of the ordinance, a referendum vote on that in the next election. Whether we're able to do that, even, or whether that will be legal are still questions that are all up in the air.
So this is simply a preliminary vote to provide direction to Deep Roots for their business plans going forward. Is that accurate, Keith?
Minutes:Keith Capurro: That's fair.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: Did you review the tapes of that meeting to verify that the word referendum was used? Because at that time, there was no knowledge of the question, whether it was going to be a question on the ballot, whether it was a legislature – I mean, because basically by default, we've already had a "referendum".
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: No. I don't think I need to review the tape, because I believe – I don't have a copy of the Ordinance with me, but I believe the Ordinance uses that word.
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Minutes:Council member Ballweg: If the Ordinance now states it, then that has to be the intent we have to judge by, then. Is that what you're…
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: No.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: I'm just saying, we can't reinterpret the term for referendum as the precinct votes of the last election? You're saying we can't do that?
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: I don't think so. You could certainly put it on the agenda and vote to interpret it that way, and say we're going to do a Council statement position on that.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: At the time, during those discussions – well, I'll leave this for discussion.
Minutes:Mr. Sweetin: The way you would interpret a statute is the plain language. There are people that will look at that and say, No - a referendum is just a position of the people. I think the way it's used in that statute, because it's also referencing what happens by a vote of the people of the State of Nevada. Referendum there would mean a separate vote.
Minutes:Council member Ballweg: I will make some more comment later.
Public Comments21) Public Comments
Minutes:Barbara Ellestad: Okay. Let me lose my anger over the Habitat fee and let me issue a public thank you and appreciation to Richard Secrist for all the work he has done over the last two or three years on this Conservation Plan beef. He has put up with me, and he has done a lot of work. He has brought this issue out of the closet where it was buried for years, and so Richard, I very much appreciate all the work you and your office did on this issue to bring it to – a lot of facts in the past to light. So I appreciate that very much.
I would very much appreciate the Council to consider a positive vote to suspend this fee and get us on an even par with the rest of Clark County in terms of economic development costs. Thank you.
Adjournment
Mesquite Technical Review Meeting MinutesTuesday, December 6, 2016
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22) Adjournment
Minutes: Mayor Litman adjourned the meeting at 2:03 PM
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Allan S. Litman, Mayor Tracy E. Beck, City Clerk
Mesquite Technical Review Meeting MinutesTuesday, December 6, 2016
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