Letters to the Editor, March 1

Council responsible for clarifying duties of all city staff members

I remain puzzled as to why the Boulder City Council and city staff cannot work together effectively. Perhaps it is a lack of communication? Communication is one of our most precious assets and certainly something I worked on while I was mayor over 20 years ago.

There seems to be confusion as to who is responsible for a recent open meeting law violation. There can be no question as to who is responsible. It is the City Council who is responsible for setting standards for the performance of four members of city staff. They are the city manager, city clerk, city attorney as well as the municipal judge. All these people should have clear guidance as to what their responsibilities are for the city of Boulder City to function well. If the City Council does not have this in place, they can move to do so.

When all these requirements are clear, it will become obvious what to do in terms of any violations of the Nevada Revised Statutes. I have the feeling that someone on staff is responsible for the open meeting law and the prevention of any violations of the open meeting law. If I was responsible, I would make sure the city manager, city attorney and city clerk were all three responsible for making sure that the City Council never violated the open meeting law.

Since the city clerk agendas all meetings, the responsibility would be hers primarily. I’m hopeful that this can be clarified since our city seems to be adrift without anybody at the helm. This is an unfortunate circumstance and can be corrected with the appropriate attention of the City Council to the performance evaluation standards of all four members of staff. Future evaluations and personnel actions should take care of this issue.

Eric Lundgaard

Opinions about cleanup at former test site sought

As a member of the community advisory board to the Department of Energy’s environmental management office at the former Nevada Test Site, I’ve been asked to seek opinions from Boulder City residents related to the environmental cleanup activities at the test site, now known as the Nevada National Security Site. The collected opinions will help the environmental management office understand the level of interest and any concerns that nearby residents have and guide the office in making their decisions.

In order to gather input and answer your questions, during the next three weeks, on Tuesdays, I’ll be at the Boulder City Library on (701) Adams (Blvd.) from 4-5:30 p.m. Please stop by so we can discuss any concerns or suggestions.

Alternately and if you wish to just provide your opinions, please go online to the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Environmental_Mgmt_Survey and respond.

Dick Stephans

Traffic signal could eliminate risk to pedestrians crossing highway

There has been much in the news for the past year or so regarding the arrest of a Boulder City citizen at the pedestrian crosswalk on Nevada Highway (now Boulder City Parkway) near McDonald’s. This event had precipitated controversy, lawsuits, charges of corruption etc.

Anyone familiar with this location is aware that there are four lanes of traffic, two in each direction, (and) huge numbers of vehicles consisting mostly of through traffic with large transport trucks, all moving at significant speed. Beyond a pedestrian crosswalk sign and paint on pavement markers, there are no signals or other traffic control measures. Any driver in this flow of traffic, recognizing that a pedestrian attempting to cross has the right of way and tries to stop, risks not only the safety of the pedestrian but most surely will cause one or more collisions of the trailing vehicles.

The basic premise of traffic enforcement is education rather than punishment. The notion of educating drivers, the majority of whom are travelling through Boulder City, is questionable and conducting a multiagency sting enforcement effort to issue citations is highly problematic under circumstances existing at the time.

The opening of Interstate 11 later this year may substantially reduce the danger at this location but, beyond this, the only effective means to eliminate the risk to pedestrians is to install a pedestrian-activated red light signal, stopping all four lanes of traffic.

The only obstacle to this solution is the reluctance of traffic engineers and transportation officials (Nevada Department of Transportation), who would rather undergo multiple root canals than authorize the stopping of four lanes of traffic on a state highway to accommodate the safe crossing of one pedestrian.

Nonetheless, it is an objective worth pursuing if this problem persists.

Fred Guenther

Nevadans can build cooling stations for good of all

Cooling stations: Has any progress been made? The hot summer is coming soon, and the power does go off.

Last year, I wrote a letter to the editor asking about a cooling station in Boulder City. Now, I see a story about Nevadans for the Common Good. It would be the perfect group to start this project.

It will take the community to do this project.

They will need a building with a generator, transportation by bus and /or car, seating for the people, restrooms, (be) open 24 hours, water and a few volunteers.

Because of medical problems, I won’t be at the (Nevadans for the Common Good) March 20 meeting at 7 p.m. at the Elaine K. Smith Center, but I hope my voice will be heard.

Please think of all the seniors and those who don’t drive as you talk and make plans about this need.

Laura Jervis