Mesquite City Council Meeting - March 10, 2026
Mesquite City Council Meeting - March 10, 2026
The Mesquite City Council held a regular meeting on March 10, 2026, at 5:00 PM. The meeting included awards, presentations, public comments, discussion of several agenda items, and votes on consent and action items. Key topics included a proposed music festival at the Sports Complex, a long-term development plan for city-owned property, and a tourism marketing grant.
Awards & Presentations
- Virgin Valley High School Theater Group was recognized for winning the Nevada State Championship. Coach Wendy Killinger announced the group will represent Nevada at nationals in Indianapolis, requiring $44,000 in fundraising. The community and first responders were thanked for their support.
- 2025 Employee of the Year was awarded to Zach Robison (Public Works) for his project management on the Justice Facility and Animal Shelter remodels. Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Larry Wade, who logged over 600 volunteer hours in 2025 with the Police and Fire departments.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of January 27, 2026, February 17, 2026, and the March 10, 2026 meeting agenda.
- Approved budget transfers, amendments, bills paid, and purchase orders.
- Approved Resolution R26-008 adopting Interlocal Contract No. 3252 for the ITS Data Analytics Arterial Performance Dashboard with the RTC of Southern Nevada and other Clark County cities.
- Approved a power box wrap art honoring Women's Suffrage, funded by the Nevada Main Street Grant.
- Approved the creation of honorary Poet Laureate and Junior Poet Laureate positions, sponsored by the Eureka Foundation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Opening Public Comments:
- Mike Benham advocated for mandatory helmet use on e-bikes and scooters, citing head injury statistics, and suggested a child seat safety check event.
- Joe Markland and Cheryl Kilker promoted the senior adaptation of "Guys and Dolls" at the Mesquite Community Theater, running the last two weekends of March.
- Donna Vanita committed to sponsoring one student for the theater trip to nationals and challenged others to do the same.
- Dominic Olivetto expressed frustration that a planned off-road tourism event (Rally in the Valley) was canceled due to BLM permit denials, estimating $4 million in potential tourism revenue lost.
- Clinton Brooks thanked the city for approving tennis court screens at Hafen Park but noted they have not been installed; he requested an update.
- Closing Public Comments: None.
Discussion Items
- Item 5.1 – Liquor Sales at I-15 Country and Rock Music Festival: Applicant Derry Alton proposed a festival on October 17, 2026, at the Mesquite Sports and Events Complex, expecting 3,000 attendees. Council expressed concerns about noise ordinance (10 PM cutoff), safety, ingress/egress, and police resources. The applicant agreed to end the show by 10 PM but emphasized the need for alcohol sales. Council voted to table the item for two weeks to allow staff to work with the applicant and address concerns.
- Item 5.2 – Desert Falls (500-Acre City-Owned Property) Plan and RFP Authorization: Simon presented a conceptual plan for mixed-use development including hotel, multifamily, workforce housing, parks, and a hospital area. Council discussed the location of multifamily near Sun City, the need for single-family homes, and infrastructure. After public comment from John Rosen (Master Plan Committee) and Rich Buller, the council approved the concept and authorized issuing an RFP, emphasizing flexibility in land use and developer qualifications.
- Item 5.3 – Amending Municipal Code for Mayor Pro-Tem Selection: Councilman Parrish proposed a process where candidates submit names to the mayor in December, the mayor nominates one, and council votes in January. Council supported annual terms and the mayor's involvement. Motion passed to add the process to the municipal code.
- Item 5.4 – Extension of Time for Anthem PUD Development Agreement: Dan Catron presented a request to extend the agreement for 20 years. Council approved, noting the developer's consistent performance and need to maintain design standards.
- Item 5.5 – Rural Marketing Grant Match from Travel Nevada: John Rosen (Morph) requested a commitment of up to $27,500 from EDA funds for a tourism website, visual identity, and marketing assets. The grant requires a 50% match. Council approved the match, noting the importance of tourism marketing.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously (Councilman Ennis motion, Councilwoman Fielding second).
- Item 5.1 tabled for two weeks (Councilman Ennis motion, Councilwoman Fielding second; all ayes).
- Item 5.2 concept approved and RFP authorized (Councilman Ennis motion, Councilman Ennis second? Actually Councilman Ennis made motion, Councilman Ennis second? Wait, transcript says Councilman Ennis made motion, then Councilman Ennis second? Likely a typo. Actually Councilman Ennis made motion, Councilman Ennis second? No, it says
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 regular city council meeting for the city of Mesquite. It's five o'clock. We're gonna get going. We're gonna start off with an invitation by Pastor Greg Janssen of the River Valley Bible Church. Let's pray. Lord, we do, I come to you this evening in gratitude, Lord. Um I'm grateful for uh the fact that you are a caring God and that you care even about the affairs of Mesquite, Nevada. I'm grateful too for a mayor and counsel that sees fit to call on you for a meeting such as this. And Lord, in that we do ask you tonight just for your wisdom and decisions that need to be made. And uh Lord, uh our prayer, my prayer is Lord God, that uh any decisions that are made are are first and foremost pointed toward you and honoring to you. So, Lord, we do ask your blessing upon this meeting here tonight, and uh we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Pastor, you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. One nation. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. And now I'm gonna turn the time over to Councilwoman Fielding for a uh presentation. Thank you, Mayor. So this is a great honor to announce that the Virgin Valley High School Theater Group has won over the weekend, the Nevada State Champions Theater Group. Um it has been, well, it's never happened, I believe, before, so 39 years in the making. Um, Susan Bennett would be super proud of the theater group at this time, and the theater at Virgin Valley High School is named after her. The theater coach, drama coach, Willie K Wendy Killinger has done amazing things with the theater since she's been here previously before that. She was over at Beaverdam High School, started their theater group. She brought all of her experience from Colorado to Mesquite, and now she is um an award-winning coach, stay coach. Okay, I might have made that up. I think she's you know, self-proclaimed, but that's only because I've known her for several years. So with that, I would like to have her come up and tell you more about the theater group, their achievements, and what they're doing in the future. Come on up, Wendy. So as they're coming up, I will say that yes, I'm an award-winning coach, but my award. Wendy, will you talk in the mic right there? My my reward or award is working with these kids. And so um, I would like to introduce you to our um state championship. What that means is they competed at regionals, one and then they competed at state, and also one. So they beat out some of the biggest dogs in Vegas and across the state, and each state gets to select one uh show to go represent them at nationals, and this is who gets to represent um the state of Nevada. I will say that they they work hard, they go the distance. Um, we even have uh one member who said if we win state, I will shave off my eyebrows. And he did. I think his father is so proud. Um besides winning, we had um a short film that um these three and where's your other one? Bentley and Brielle. Um that they entered a short film, qualified for nationals. They get to compete with that. Avan Annaviska is our ninth grader. She competed with a monologue. She will now compete at the state with that, and we get to take our show. We also have um three students who went through the rigorous process of applying to be a student fesbian officer. And um it, I mean, it was it was very rigorous, and they were all three accepted.
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