LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County Commissioners have voted to move forward with negotiations with Formula 1 officials over potentially sharing the cost of the ongoing paving project around Las Vegas Boulevard.
Right now, the project is being paid for by Liberty Media on behalf of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
"It's all under the permit that has been issued by Public Works. The work being performed [is] on county right-of-way only," said Terry Miller from Miller Project Management, who is overseeing the paddock and resurfacing work. "The paving we're doing currently includes setting up for the track, creating the barriers, the safety components to protect our residents in terms of spectators, covering the bridges, and adding the vehicular bridges to make sure we have connectivity to the 23,000 rooms inside the circuit. "
On Tuesday, Formula 1 officials introduced a proposal asking to negotiate with the county to split the cost. According to Stephanie Allen, who was representing the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the overall cost of the project is $80 million and they're looking for the county to pay up to $40 million.
"We're making a request today because there's a significant public purpose related to the improvements to Clark County's roads that you all will own after those improvements and will have exclusive use of with those improvements," Allen said.
Some commissioners said this should have been brought up months ago to give the county time to plan ahead.
"I fully understand incentivizing special events and incentivizing businesses to come to the community and I see the value from that," Commissioner Michael Naft said. "This negotiation feels a little bit too late."
"We are not ever part of the conversation. [Event organizers] come to us and say now. It's been brewing for a long time and I'm not coming to the table first because my constituents have been feeling the pain this entire time," said Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick. "There ain't none of my constituents sitting in the stands because they can't afford to get close to Formula 1. My constituents are tired of not knowing what's going on. I'm not even willing to go into negotiations until I see what everyone else is bringing to the table."
RELATED LINK: Formula 1 officials update timeline on road paving
Formula 1 officials said the process of figuring out how to put a proposal together to introduce to county officials took time, which is why it was proposed so late.
"The mechanism with which to make the request is another component none of us were familiar with," Allen said. "While there might have been discussion it was coming, it has not come to fruition until today and this is our formal request to have the county sit at the table with us."
Commissioner Jim Gibson said if the county had done the paving themselves, they might not have been ready in time for the race.
"Absent an agreement like this, there's no way for us to prepare our roadway for a race. Even if we decide we want to upgrade our roadway system, we would have to go through the process, which. means we would have to design, have a series of bids submitted, selection process, and schedule it," Gibson said. "The part we're not able to do is speed any of that up in a way that is meaningful."
Gibson added the proposal was just to allow negotiations to move forward. However, Kirkpatrick said if the proposal was approved, county officials could feel obligated to pay.
"You don't go to sit down for negotiations without expecting to come somewhere. I don't understand what the expectation is to sit down, even for the public purpose, because we should get back what we put in it," Kirkpatrick said.
Commissioners approved the proposal 4-3 to discuss negotiations.
However, Gibson said there are more discussions that need to be had before anything can receive final approval.
He added, "I know there is another source of revenue or source of dollars that need to be brought to the table and we'll be engaged in those discussions over the next days because this is something that needs to happen quickly."
