Mesquite City Council passes library land transfer, gaming license, medical marijuana tax reduction
Article and photo by Josh Warburton
The Mesquite City Council passed three agenda items on Tuesday, July 14, at a regularly scheduled meeting. The Council first approved a motion to transfer 4.5 acres of land to the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District to build a new library. This transfer includes two segments: a 1.25 acre property at 121 West 100 North—the location of the existing library—and a 3.25 acre parcel located at 105 West Mesquite Blvd., where the new library will be built.
The proposed design for the new library is expected to be approximately 16,000 square feet with construction costs estimated at $7 million, all of which will be paid for by the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. The existing library building will be retained as programmable space. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-2, with councilmembers Hafen and Rapson opposed.
Judith Sargent, branch manager of the Mesquite Library says there is no date on when construction will begin.
“The Library District has met with the City Council twice,” Sargent said. “At this point, they have to go back to the table [and] hire the architect. And plans have not been approved yet.”
According to the Las Vegas – Clark County Library District, the current library has exceeded capacity for some time, but construction on the new library was delayed due to the economic recession. When construction is complete, the new facility will have significant upgrades in materials, seating computers, internet capacity and workspace for volunteers and employees.
The Council then moved to consider approval of a non-restricted gaming license for Dotty’s Restaurant, expected to open soon at the location formerly occupied by The 19th Hole at 550 South El Dorado Road. The license allows the restaurant to have 50 gaming machines.This motion was approved unanimously.
A Dotty’s representative was asked about an opening date and responded that the expected timeframe was in early- to mid-September.
The final item on the Council’s agenda was the proposal to reduce the tax rate for Deep Roots Medical, LLC, a medicinal marijuana business hoping to open a dispensary in Mesquite. For more information on this hotly-debated story, read Marcos Camargo’s article, “Mesquite City Council passes medicinal marijuana municipal tax reduction.”
