LV council OKs wish list for funding

Climate change, affordable housing, energy efficiency programs, copper wire thefts and a proposed new flight route for McCarran International Airport are all part of a legislative agenda approved by the Las Vegas City Council last week.

The 52-page document includes $14 million in appropriations requests, not counting hoped-for funding for a regional public safety complex in northwest Las Vegas, and policy positions on everything from water to Yucca Mountain.

"It's pretty run of the mill," said Ted Olivas, the city's government affairs director. "We try to structure that consistently with the things that are going on in D.C."

For example, "climate change relates to sustainability. It's one of our major priorities, and that aligns with what's going on nationally."

Olivas said the city found some success in its funding priorities last year, including $200,000 for the Post Office Museum, $750,000 to study the potential effects of the Mountain Edge Parkway, $165,000 for a youth program and $390,000 for a program aimed at helping released felons return to society.

Still, "it's impossible to predict" how the city's lobbying will fare this year, Olivas said. "Money's tight back East, so it's hard to get."

One of the city's big-ticket items -- $15 million for a planned emergency operations center at the Las Vegas Beltway and Hualapai Way -- did not get funded last year. This year, the city hopes that Congress allows more Homeland Security grant funds to be used for the center's construction costs.

"We knew that it was a stretch," Olivas said. "The delegates know about it and are in support of it."

In 2006, the complex's construction costs were estimated at $21 million to $55 million, depending on what is included in the project.

Other priorities set by the council this year include the following:

• Continued opposition to the proposed nuclear waste storage center at Yucca Mountain.

• Support for $14 billion in proposed loans and grants for water pollution control.

• Opposition to reinstating the "right turn" flight path from McCarran that would allow eastbound planes to fly over parts of Summerlin and North Las Vegas.

• Support for a $10 billion block grant program for projects boosting energy efficiency and calls for more funds for local efforts to build and maintain affordable housing for low-income families and individuals.

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.