9 Takeaways from Las Vegas Raiders Stadium Board Meeting Thursday
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Raiders/Las Vegas stadium board met Thursday afternoon and here are nine things you should know from the session. The site for the $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium is on the west side of Interstate 15, bounded by Polaris Avenue and Russell Road.
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- Las Vegas is one of five finalists to host a 2019 or 2020 NFL Draft event, Raiders President Marc Badain told the stadium board. Badain also gave a summary of the construction work so far. By the way, other draft host finalists are Denver, Kansas City, Tennessee and Cleveland/Canton.
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2. Community participation is off and running on the Raiders stadium project with 46 percent of the construction site’s work hours being performed by workers who are minorities and women where the Raiders benefits plan goal is 38 percent; and 18 percent of the companies on the project are small businesses from Nevada where the state bill-mandated threshold is 15 percent, according to Lynn Littlejohn of Mortsenson, the general contractor building the Raiders stadium with McCarthy Building Companies.
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3. Stadium board appointed one of its own members — Ken Evans, Urban Chamber of Commerce president — to chair the stadium community benefits oversight committee. This panel will be a watchdog over the Raiders’ implementation of the team’s community benefits plan.
LVSportsBiz.com reported early on about Evans’ interest that the companies hired for the project would be inclusive and diverse.
During the stadium meeting, Evans said the diversity and small business hiring at the construction site is off to an “excellent start.”
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4. Raiders also appointed Peter Guzman, president of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber, to the community benefits plan oversight committee.
Joining Evans and Guzman on the oversight panel are Lynn Littlejohn, director of community affairs for stadium contractor Mortenson; Don Webb, the Raiders stadium chief operating officer; Monica Ford, president of training services non-profit Nevada Partners; Rose Davis, a minority business leader; and Rebecca Fountain, president of KOR Building Group who chaired a committee designed to train local businesses on applying for work at the Raiders stadium. LVSportsBiz.com reported in August about this panel chaired by Fountain.
Stadium board Tommy White, leader of Laborers 872, was concerned that Evans’ appointment from the stadium authority panel to chair the community benefits plan committee could be a conflict of interest. But a lawyer for the stadium board said during the meeting it was legally OK under state law.
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5. The Oct. 1 Strip shooting massacre that claimed 58 lives lowered visitorship to the Strip and Las Vegas in the fourth quarter of 2017, so stadium room tax revenues are lower than budgeted amounts. In December, room tax revenues were $2.8 million, down 10.5 percent from the budgeted $3.13 million. Overall, the March to December room tax revenues total is $40.5 million, about 6.1 percent over the $38.16 million that was budgeted. These room tax revenues being collected will shave dollars off the $750 million public subsidy that the Raiders will receive from the state of Nevada.
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6. Lawyer Mark Arnold, the consulting lawyer to the stadium board, expected the county — on behalf of the stadium authority — to sell bonds to pay for the public share of the stadium cost in May.
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7. The Raiders will pay for the first $100 million of the project. Plus the land costs for the 62-acre site.
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8. The major issue that is sticking out is the parking. Clark County code requires the Raiders to come up with 16,000 plus parking spaces. but only 3,000 are available in the actual 62-acre site. Attorney Arnold, working for the stadium board, said the board will be negotiating with the Raiders on any language regarding parking in future development agreements. The Raiders have been eyeing the Bali Hai Golf Club site on the east side of I-15 for parking, but the golf course operation is caught up in a lawsuit between the feds and Clark County.
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9. The next stadium board meeting is March 1 at 9 AM. Note the 9 a.m. start time.
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