Mesquite City Council Rejects Water Measure

Moapa Valley Progress

A controversial measure relating to the composition of the Virgin Valley Water District Board (VVWD) was rejected in a Mesquite City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

The resolution, proposed by Councilwoman Sandra Ramaker, would have requested that the Nevada legislature change the representation on the local water board to better reflect the populations of Mesquite and Bunkerville. The current board is made up of five members including three from Mesquite and two from Bunkerville. Ramaker’s proposal would change membership on the board to include four from Mesquite. Her explanation was that the board should have more proportional representation.

Mesquite’s population is about 20,000 while Bunkerville’s is about 1,300.
But the public comments that followed were warmly discussed.
Ben Davis, a Mesquite member of the VVWD Board, saw nothing wrong or disproportional in the current make-up of the board; nor did he see anything to indicate that the board make-up is detrimental to Mesquite.

Davis made a statement that would become a point of contention throughout the remainder of the discussion by both the public and the council. He said this was a matter of “deception and trickery” that really had to do with who gets control of Virgin Valley water matters in the city. He suggested that the ongoing lawsuit brought by Wolf Creek Golf Club against VVWD was the driving issue. He claimed that Ramaker is supporting the position of Wolf Creek because it was her largest campaign contributor.

Several members of the public defended Ramaker and the proposal. One person said the Wolf Creek accusation against Ramaker was a “terrible attack” and that the history of the water district is a “sordid one.” Others said there needs to be equitable and equal representation on the water board which does not now exist with the current board make-up.

VVWD General Manager Kevin Brown described the 1991 agreement between Bunkerville and Mesquite took place at a time when water resources on the Mesquite side of the Virgin River were uncertain and inadequate to serve the needs of Mesquite. Bunkerville brought a more certain and better water supply to the table, Brown said. This resulted in the agreement between the two communities that resulted in the current board make-up.

“That agreement was important then and should be considered now,” he said.
Bunkerville resident Bryan Haviland attended the meeting and commented on the matter. “Why are we trying to create a feud between our communities?” he asked, pointing out that the current system is working and is not detrimental to either side.
Following public discussion several members of the council made comments and asked questions.

Councilman George Rapson read a letter from the Legislative Council Bureau (LCB) in Carson City that offered the legal opinion that the VVWD is essentially a “narrowly defined business enterprise” and is therefore not subject to proportional representation as required under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Rapson called on city consultant and lobbyist Warren Hardy, a former member of the legislature, to ask what weight the legislature would place on the LCB opinion.

Hardy said the LCB is the legislature’s bipartisan legal counsel and that the legislature places a lot of weight on LCB opinions. He further stated that he felt it would not be good for the credibility of the City of Mesquite to take a matter to Carson City upon which there was not local agreement between the city and the water district.

“I’m from Mesquite but I’m also from Virgin Valley and I’m proud of it,” said City Councilman George Gault. “We should not go with this deal and split our community.”

When it came time for action by the council, Ramaker’s motion for a proposed resolution died for lack of second.

In other action the council received a report from Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Tobler and Interim Police Chief McQuade Chesley on the handling of the Monday, Jan. 21 power outage. They reported that they were pleased that the emergency plan now in place worked well and the outage did not create the kind of chaos that such events had in the past.

“We implemented our emergency plan and it made for a successful outage” Tobler said.
Chesley agreed adding, “Generators were quickly put in place at key intersections so traffic signals were functional and communication systems worked well.”

Power provider OPD was given positive reviews by both men and by several members of the council for providing quick responses and updates during a very difficult situation.