100°F
weather icon Clear

News Briefs, May 24

City to take legal action to prevent employee harassment

City Council members voted unanimously to pursue staff’s recommendation for legal action to prevent city employees from being harassed during a special meeting Wednesday morning, according to City Manager Al Noyola.

Possible litigation was discussed during a closed session after council members heard comments from three residents and the attorney of another.

Though the exact harassment was never disclosed, a resident spoke during Tuesday night’s regular council meeting, claiming the council’s action wasd directed at him.

“Mr. Noyola sent me a letter, had the audacity to have it delivered by a constable and woke me up. He accused me of threatening people by veiled threat and harassment,” said Neal Siniakin.

“If you persist in harassing me, I’m going to go ahead and file suit,” he said. “Nothing I said tonight was harassment. If I call you to be untruthful, I can prove that everybody except Mr. (Kiernan) McManus is untruthful in this room. I suggest that you guys back off.”

Alex Shepard of Randazza Legal Group in Las Vegas, spoke on behalf of Siniakin at Wednesday’s morning, stating residents have a Constitutional right to express themselves as well as request information from city staff. Even multiple requests for the same information do not equal harassment, he said.

Pursuing legal action for this “stymies citizens’ rights,” he concluded.

Linda Barnett told council members that staff was never promised “smooth sailing” and that responding to citizens’ requests was part of their jobs. She also said the truth will always prevail and the city should have learned from its past legal proceedings with residents.

“Stop shooting the messenger,” Barnett said, commending those who had the courage to stand up and say what they feel is right.

Neighborhood Watch information meeting tonight

Area residents are invited to an informational meeting at 7 tonight, May 24, for the new Neighborhood Watch program being organized by the Boulder City Police Department Volunteer Program in partnership with members of the community.

The meeting will be held at Elaine K. Smith Center, 700 Wyoming St.

Neighborhood Watch is a national program designed to fight crime and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods by forming partnerships between the police department and the community they serve. Members from the community and the police department will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

For additional information contact, Patrick Richardson, police support aide for the department, at 702-589-9603 or prichardson@bcnv.org.

Boulder City to celebrate new interstate

Residents, business owners and those who work in the city will be able to celebrate the completion of Interstate 11 with the upcoming Boulder City Day on Saturday, June 2.

At this exclusive event, they will be able to hike and bike along the highway to a new scenic overlook from 6-10 a.m. Because this is an active construction site, participants will travel along the designated asphalt roadway surface and some places will require bicyclists to walk their bikes.

The 5.8-mile one-way route offers a turnaround point at the 1.55-mile mark.

Parking will be at the bridge near the south end of Buchanan Boulevard where the interstate crosses over.

Reservations are required and can be made by emailing publicworks@bcnv.org.

Another portion of I-11 opens

On Wednesday, May 23, the Nevada Department of Transportation opened a 2.5-long section of Interstate 11 between Foothill Drive in Henderson and U.S. Highway 95 in Boulder City.

The $83-million I-11 Phase One project, which broke ground in late 2015, consists of building a full diamond interchange at Railroad Pass with a loop ramp, plus a 600-foot-long, two-lane, cast-in-place flyover bridge from southbound I-11 to eastbound U.S. Highway 93 toward Boulder City. Other project components include a new 1.5-mile-long asphalt frontage road linking Henderson with the Railroad Pass interchange, plus replanting 20,000 cactuses, placing decorative rock and installing 5 miles of tortoise fencing.

Pieces of the new interstate opened in phases starting last year.

The Regional Transportation Commission is still working on the remaining 12.5-mile second segment, which it expects to open at the end of July.

I-11 marks the first new infrastructure to the Interstate Highway System since it was deemed complete Oct. 14, 1992, with the opening of Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon, Colorado.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
Toll Brothers gets split decision

The development of the area near Boulder Creek Golf Course known as Tract 350 (the sale of which is slated to pay for the majority of the planned replacement for the aging municipal pool) may have hit a snag last week as the planning commission voted 5-1 to deny the developers’ request to build houses closer to the street than is allowed under current law.

Council gives nod to 185 new hangars

There is at least one part of Boulder City that is set to see growth in the coming years. A lot of growth.

Boulder City ready to celebrate America

Boulder City resident James Cracolici may have put it best when he called the annual July 4 Damboree, “The crown jewel of all events held in Boulder City.”

BC can ban backyard breeders

Although there is nothing on any city agenda yet, the resolution of the issue of whether pet breeding will be allowed in Boulder City took a huge step forward last week as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford released an official opinion on the intent and limitations of state law that had been requested by city staff last year.

Completion dates for two road projects pushed back

Mayor Joe Hardy tacitly acknowledged that Boulder City gets, perhaps, more than its fair share of funding from the Regional Transportation Commission, given the city’s size.

Businesses recognized at Chamber awards night

The Boulder City Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation and awards night featured many business owners in town and even had an appearance, albeit an A.I.-generated one, by Audrey Hepburn.

Parallel parking approved

Like so many other things in the world of Boulder City government, the issue of reconfiguring parking in the historic downtown area along Nevada Way, which generated enough heat to cause council members to delay a decision up until the last possible moment, ended with more of a whimper than a bang.

Ways to reduce summer power bills

Now that the thermometer is on the rise outdoors, the cost to cool homes and businesses on the inside is doing the same.