Letters to the Editor
A concrete plan
As a local general contractor, I can attest to the recent rise in construction costs (20% overall post-COVID). In the pre-COVID era we saw construction costs parallel the consumer price index (CPI) with exception to fuel cost spikes and an occasional forest fire.
Post-COVID, however, has shown construction costs substantially outpacing the current record-high inflation. And the leader of that pack is concrete. Three years ago, I paid $69 a yard for delivered wet mix. Today we’re at $132-140 per yard and we were just notified of a price increase coming in September. That’s a 100% increase in three years compared to the industry’s 20% and inflation’s 8%.
Our pool is going to take a helluva a lot of concrete. Any and all creative solutions for supplying concrete to our pool build should be considered prior to going to contract.
Don Rodriguez,
Boulder City
Displeased with hangar issue
Why is our City Council asking people on fixed incomes to subsidize some of the most affluent members of our community? The tenants of our airport hangars were given a sweet deal 30 years ago to help establish our new airport. Their lease is such a great deal that many of them are subletting their hangars for more than 10 times what they pay the city in rent!
Obviously, they are reluctant to give up this lucrative opportunity and they contributed generously to our present Council’s election (except Matt Fox), all of which is a matter of public record. Unfortunately, none of our Council have disclosed these contributions or recused themselves from voting on this issue.
The hangar tenants all signed a contract with the city and were well aware that after 30 years the hangars would revert to the city and they would be charged market prices to continue the leases. There are over 180 people on a waiting list to lease a hangar at our airport who are willing to pay those prices.
Nevada Revised Statutes and our own City Charter compel our Council to lease the hangars at market value, not to mention the FAA, who funds improvements at our airport. Let’s have a town hall and find out why hanger tenants, many of whom do not even live in Boulder City, should be offered these long-term contracts (20 years) below market value?
Our Council already has a bizarre record of paying out huge settlements to people who were losing their court cases with the city. It does seem a bit tone deaf to be raising our utility rates while subsidizing people who own airplanes…
Maybe they think we won’t notice and maybe they are right!
Nicola Collins, Boulder City
