The water we drinkPolitics stalls $250 million water plant in North Vegas

A $250 million wastewater treatment plant in North Las Vegas suffered a major setback after county commissioners denied the plant’s request to use county land to discharge treated waste water.

North Las Vegas had spent millions on building its own wastewater treatment plant so that it could stop relying on Las Vegas’. The city had planned to route treated water through the Sloan Channel to Lake Mead, but Clark County Commissioners became frustrated when the city began building the plant without first requesting permission to use the channel, which is in unincorporated county territory.

North Las Vegas proposed that it would pay the county $50,000 a year to maintain the channel. The Clark County Commissioners recently voted six to one against the proposal after a month of fierce debate.

The plant has been under construction for years and needed the use of a Clark County pipeline to operate.

The wastewater treatment facility has been a contentious issue between county commissioners and the city, and county commissioners say that North Las Vegas has not been cooperative.

For instance, commissioners requested that the city first notify residents along the channel about the proposed plan.

According to North Las Vegas city councilwoman Anita Wood, the city sent out letters to 10,000 residents. But County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said that the notice was insufficient because it was buried in a newsletter that residents did not see.

County commissioners were particularly upset about a lucrative deal with Nellis Air Force Base and the city.

Commissioner Steve Sisolak said that the city’s proposed plans included an agreement with Nellis Air Force Base to use the North Vegas sewage treatment plant rather than the Las Vegas plant. The deal would have taken $1.25 million in revenues from the county each year.

Commission Chairwoman Susan Brager said it was an “unfortunate situation” that the council had voted against the plant, but she said that she was not aware of the Nellis Air Force Base deal and that the city had not revealed that part of the plan.

Commissioner Tom Collins, who represents much of North Las Vegas and voted against the agreement, added “Cooperation has been almost nonexistent, and it’s a shame. I really thought things were improving over there.”

Wood is determined to move the project forward and refuses to let taxpayer money go to waste.

“Absolutely not, absolutely not, this is going to move forward,” she said.

Wood said that the city began construction on the plant after the county commissioners had approved its initial plans.

“We have built the project based on those approvals, and we’re going to hold the county to them.”