Henderson City Council appoints Kirk as mayor pro-tem

By Jeremy Twitchell

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 | 3:37 p.m.

The City Council unanimously appointed Councilman Steve Kirk as mayor pro-tem at its Tuesday meeting.

As mayor pro-tem, it will be Kirk’s duty to lead meetings in Mayor Andy Hafen’s absence. Kirk narrowly lost to Hafen in June’s mayoral race, with 49.9 percent of the vote to Hafen’s 50.1 percent.

Councilwoman Gerri Schroder had been acting as mayor pro-tem.

Council honors student for charitable undertaking

The Henderson City Council honored 14-year-old Coronado High School Freshman Nicolas Paris his efforts to collect cleats for children of low-income families to use in sports.

Paris’ Cleats for Kids program collects used cleats, which Paris then cleans up and repairs for re-use. He said he got the idea after seeing a player kicked out of a little league football game because his cleats were torn.

“This right here is what America is all about -- it’s volunteering in your community,” Mayor Andy Hafen said. “Although, it is exceptional to see someone of your age doing something like this.”

Paris said he thought Cleats for Kids would be a good way to repay the community, but that it has been hugely rewarding for himself as well.

“When you help someone out and they look at you and say, ‘Thank you,’ you can’t ask for a better feeling than that,” Paris said.

Dog Park to be built

As work on the senior center and aquatic facility at the future Heritage Park nears completion, the Council authorized the park’s next piece -- a dog park -- to go out to bid.

Heritage Park is a 60-acre facility being built at Burkholder Boulevard and Racetrack Road on the east side of Henderson. When completed, it will have 11 soccer fields, three adult baseball diamonds, two youth baseball diamonds, volleyball courts, bocce courts, a festival plaza, trails and acres of open space.

The dog park was targeted to be built separate from the rest of the park because of site constraints. City staff estimates construction on the roughly two-acre park to cost $1.2 million.

Heritage Park carries an overall budget of nearly $40 million, which is being funded by the federal government through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. The act allows local municipalities to tap into the proceeds of local federal land auctions to build parks and trails.

The senior center and aquatic center are expected to be complete this fall; the entire park is expected to be complete in 2010.

Henderson Police receive three grants

The City Council unanimously accepted three grants issued to the Henderson Police Department.

The largest was a $154,000 grant from the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s Joining Forces Program. Joining Forces pays for the overtime for officers participating in multi-jurisdictional enforcement events, which in the past have included crackdowns to enforce speed limits and seat belt laws.

The other two grants were for $1,000 each, and both were from Target. The first will aid victims of domestic violence; the second will bolster the Henderson Police Department’s anti-crime signage program.

Weatherization grants received

Henderson’s weatherization assistance program got a $1.1 million boost from the federal stimulus bill, which the City Council unanimously accepted Tuesday night.

The money will aid the weatherization program offered through Henderson’s Neighborhood Services program, which helps low-income families make their homes safer and more energy efficient. Examples of upgrades the program funds include insulation, carbon monoxide monitors, low-energy light bulbs and low-water fixtures.

For more information about Henderson’s weatherization program, contact the Department of Neighborhood Services at 267-2000.