Protesters against golf plan

It appeared to be just another sunny Saturday morning in Boulder City. Residents were out pulling weeds from their gardens, riding their mountain bikes through the downtown historic district and holding yard sales on their front lawns.

But as longtime resident Elaine Wells mowed the lawn of the home she just sold for one in another part of town, about 100 of her neighbors were gathered on the front steps of City Hall to protest a proposal by the MGM Grand hotel-casino to lease land from the city to build two golf courses.

At issue is a 40-year lease agreement for approximately 800 acres of popular desert hiking and biking trails near the interchange of U.S. 95 and U.S. 93 which is up for approval on Tuesday night's City Council agenda. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

According to the proposed lease, the MGM would build two world-class golf courses and once the project is complete would pay $750,000 annually in rent in addition to paying 50 percent of all infrastructure costs.

The lease spells out that MGM will not use the property for any gaming activities, which are prohibited by the Boulder City Charter, or to build homes or a hotel/motel.

MGM also agrees to provide three special event days for Boulder City residents on the Championship course, designated exclusively for hotel-casino guests, and the semi-public Resort course as well as discounted green fees on the Resort course. The fees for the courses to be designed by the world-renowned Rees Jones were not disclosed in the lease agreement.

As part of the agreement, MGM commits to assist the city in constructing alternate hiking and biking trails to replace the trails that will be affected by the golf course.

Trails were just one of the points of contention during Saturday's rally.

Robert Kessler told his fellow residents -- some of whom held placards stating "Let the People Vote" -- that the trails on the property MGM wants to lease "are some of the best in the West."

He compared Boulder City to Moab, Utah, where he said the slick rock trails bring in $1.2 million annually to the town's businesses -- not the city's coffers.

And therein lies another of the protestors' concerns. They say local businesses will not benefit from MGM's "captive customers."

Many also see the MGM proposal as a growth issue and a way for the city to pad its coffers by circumventing a vote of the residents to eventually sell the property through a purchase option in the lease. The agreement, however, states that any property purchase must be approved by residents and the council as stated in the city's charter.

Joanne Patton, an 18-year resident, is one of those who feels "the City Council is railroading us." She said she thinks the council will vote for the lease agreement despite residents' concerns.

Chris Yergensen, an attorney representing the MGM, said during the rally that there was no validity to allegations that city officials and MGM executives had been conspiring behind closed doors on a land purchase deal.

"The lease (agreement) has always been public and we have been very open," he said stressing that it is a lease -- not a purchase -- agreement. "The people who are speaking here today are the ones who speak out against everything."

City Councilman Robert Kenneston agreed with Yergensen. He says more than half the community's some 15,000 residents support the golf course lease proposal and it is only a vocal few who have concerns with the plan.

If Wells is representative of the silent majority, Kenneston may be right.

"I think a golf course would be nice as long as it's not too expensive for Boulder City residents," the mother and homemaker said.

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