Clean Water Coalition votes to close shop

It's all over but the funeral for the Clean Water Coalition, which was reduced on Thursday to what Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown called "the shell of an agency."

After delaying action for months, board members took less than an hour to strip the regional wastewater agency of nearly all of its money, its one remaining staff member and what little assets it had left.

The four-member board also officially killed off the coalition's one and only reason for being, a proposed wastewater pipeline to Lake Mead that was designed but never built. Work on the $800 million project was suspended in December 2009.

"This is all about the shutdown of the CWC," said Brown. "If you have to use a number, it's 98 percent shut down right now."

Coalition General Manager Chip Maxfield's last day will be Sept. 30.

All that remains is to disband the coalition itself, but it's unclear when that might happen.

North Las Vegas City Councilman Robert Eliason has blocked the move, which requires a unanimous vote by the board. That stalemate is expected to continue until the city and the county resolve their legal dispute over the use of a county storm channel to release wastewater from the city's new treatment plant.

Thursday's meeting cleared the way for the coalition to divide up and return roughly $62 million it collected from its member jurisdictions to help pay for the wastewater pipeline.

In the coming days, Clark County will get 51 percent of the money, while Las Vegas gets 26 percent, Henderson 13 percent and North Las Vegas 10 percent.

Clark County and Henderson have announced plans to return those funds to ratepayers. Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are expected to follow suit.

For the average homeowner in Henderson, the refund will come in the form of a one-time credit of $6 or $7 on a city utility bill sometime before the end of the year.

Henderson's M Resort could wind up getting back about $1 million.

The hotel-casino on Las Vegas Boulevard South played a key role in what is likely to go down as the Clean Water Coalition's biggest accomplishment: a Nevada Supreme Court decision earlier this year that blocked the state from raiding the coalition's coffers.

That ruling turned state budget talks on their ear and established a precedent that could help other entities protect their money from being siphoned by Carson City.

M Resort officials joined in that fight against the state, but they also sued the coalition over the money they paid for the canceled pipeline project. That lawsuit soon will be settled under an agreement approved Thursday that will pay M Resort $375,000 on top of what it is owed by Henderson.

Maxfield said it is cheaper to pay the settlement than to continue to fight .

After the $62 million is returned, the coalition will be left with about $2 million to cover any remaining expenses. Whatever is left of that when the agency is finally dissolved will be returned to the cities and the county using the same distribution formula.

As for the wastewater pipeline, all outstanding contracts will be closed out and the designs, studies and other documents will be divvied up among the reclamation district, Henderson and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

In June, the coalition closed its office and auctioned off "everything except three or four pencils, a couple of staplers and a note pad or two," Maxfield said.

Thursday's meeting was an unusual one for Maxfield, who at one point found himself recommending elimination of his own $161,000-a-year job.

After the meeting, the former Clark County commissioner said he plans to go back into the consulting business .

Starting Oct. 1, the Clark County Water Reclamation District will handle any administrative matters that may crop up for what little is left of the coalition.

Maxfield said reclamation district General Manager Richard Mendes agreed to take on that job for the handsome sum of $1.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.