Stadium Authority Board to meet for first time on Monday

A rendering shows how the proposed domed stadium for Las Vegas might look (MANICA Architecture)

The board that will select the site and approve contracts for a proposed $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat domed football stadium will meet for the first time Monday at UNLV.

State officials have posted the first agenda for what will be known as the Stadium Authority Board, and much of the meeting will be dedicated to discussing procedures board members will follow as they work to build a potential new home for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders near the Strip.

Board meetings will be open to the public. The first session will be at 9:30 a.m., at the Stan Fulton Building at Flamingo Road and Swenson Street, but future meetings could be at other locations.

The first meeting will include an introduction of seven voting members of the board, including its chairman, Governor’s Office of Economic Development Director Steve Hill, who was among Gov. Brian Sandoval’s three board appointees.

“I continue to be excited about the opportunity the stadium represents,” Hill said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Pardon the pun, but this could be a game-changing event. I think Nevada has put together a very attractive opportunity for the Raiders here.”

Hill headed the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, which spent more than a year developing recommendations for projects to improve the region’s tourism economy, including the stadium. The dome is seen not only as a venue for the Raiders and the UNLV football team but a large-scale venue for concerts and events. Hill’s committee delivered recommendations that eventually led to the Nevada Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 1, a framework for financing the stadium and establishing the authority board as the overseer of the project’s business dealings.

The bill, signed into law by Sandoval Oct. 17 following a special session of the Legislature, increases Clark County’s tax on hotel rooms to raise $750 million over 32 years for bonds that will help fund stadium construction. In addition to the public money, stadium construction will be funded by $650 million from the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson and $500 million from the Raiders.

The first meeting agenda will include an agreement with Clark County for temporary funding for operations and a plan for temporary staffing for the board.

Hill said he plans to recommend hiring Jeremy Aguero of Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis as temporary staff. The board could move to hire permanent staff once an NFL team — presumably, the Raiders — commits to moving to Las Vegas.

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis intends to file for relocation with NFL owners the day after the current regular season ends, Jan. 1. Owners could vote as early as mid-January to approve relocation if 24 of the 32 owners approve it.

The board also is expected to issue a request for proposals for legal representation and will begin the process of selecting two more board members and two officers, a vice chairman and a secretary.

Senate Bill 1 designated a nine-member board with the initial seven members choosing two more people to join them.

Hill said the board would determine the process for picking the two new members. He said the board would weigh a recommendation to appoint a representative from Las Vegas Sands Corp. and from the Raiders. It could also consider the approximately 100 names that were submitted to the County Commission when it made its selections.

Hill does not expect the two new members to be named Monday.

Board members also are expected to discuss the role of County Treasurer Laura Fitzpatrick, who will serve as a non-voting member of the board.

In addition to Hill, Sandoval’s board appointees included Dallas Haun, chief executive officer of Nevada State Bank, and Bill Hornbuckle, president of MGM Resorts International.

The Clark County Commission on Nov. 15 appointed Tommy White, the head of Laborers Union Local 872; Ken Evans, president of the Urban Chamber of Commerce; and Jan Jones Blackhurst, former mayor of Las Vegas and an executive with Caesars Entertainment Corp., to the board.

The legislation creating the board also stipulated that a facilities expert from UNLV be designated a voting member. That will be Mike Newcomb, executive director of the Thomas & Mack Center, Sam Boyd Stadium and the Cox Pavilion.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.