Council-3-3-16In the regular Mesquite City Council meeting for Feb. 24, Mayor Al Litman noted the recent passing of local veteran, Jim Brown, who passed away earlier that day. “Jim Brown was one of our veterans here in town that devoted virtually every minute of his day to the benefit to Veterans of Mesquite,” said Litman. Brown served 28 years in the US Navy with four tours in Vietnam. He also played a large role in bringing the Vietnam Veterans Wall, the 1000 Flags over Mesquite and the Veterans Center to the area.

Moving on to normal business, the council and staff approved everything on their agenda, including filing notice with the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool Pact (Pool Pact) that they intend on cancelling their coverage effective June 30, 2016.

“Staff feels there are some cost effective alternatives out there,” said City Manager Andy Barton. “If the city changes their mind, they can rescind the cancellation at any time prior to lapse in coverage.”

Council approved the item unanimously after a short presentation from Allen Kaercher of Kaercher Insurance, which insure the city through widely known Travelers Insurance. Kaercher would not disclose the amount of money they could theoretically save the city, but told the MLN that “it’s a substantial amount” after the meeting. Kaercher also pointed out to the council that his company has a AAA Bond rating, which offers many advantages to their clients.

In other business, there will be some new signs showing up around town as the Nevada DMV granted $12,000 through a new program called the Complete Streets Program to post road signs. Through the approval of Resolution 885 which enters the city into an interlocal agreement with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) signs will be designed and erected in March. For this project, ‘Share the Road’ signs will be placed in a proposed 27 spots throughout the city. Council will have to initially spend the money but will be reimbursed from RTC after completion.

The final business for the council was approval of a Consulting Services Agreement between Creative Consulting Solutions and Mesquite Fire Rescue (MFR) to increase the amount of money recoverable from Medicaid for patients serviced by MFR. According to Deputy Fire Chief Rick Resnick, the new services would double the amount of 18% to 36% collected, or an estimated $80,000 per year.

Due to lack of items, the City Council Meeting for March 8 has been cancelled. The next proposed meeting will be March 22 at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 10 E. Mesquite Blvd.