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Westside community pitches beautification, a neighborhood-watch program and youth outreach; presenter cites historic context and volunteer match
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Summary
Westside Community Neighborhood Association asked the Neighborhood Partners Fund for funding for three linked projects—beautification and perennial plantings, a neighborhood-watch kit and a youth ice-cream social—emphasizing local revitalization and large volunteer-hour commitments. The board asked for coordination with Metro and clarified documentation requirements.
Leonard Martin, president of the Westside Community Neighborhood Association, presented the group's three-part grant request to the Neighborhood Partners Fund board on April 7 in Las Vegas, framing the projects as part of ongoing revitalization efforts in the West Side.
Martin said the package includes neighborhood beautification with perennial plantings and minimal landscaping tailored to seniors, a neighborhood-watch program with signs and equipment, and a youth-focused ice-cream social intended to engage 90–100 children and encourage civic participation. He stressed historic context—the West Side's role as an original Las Vegas townsite and its recent revitalization efforts—and said the association is aiming to reconnect neighbors as part of broader anti-gentrification concerns.
The Westside application listed substantial volunteer support: the presenter said the association pledges 174 volunteer hours across nine volunteers. Martin described the neighborhood's current heat and tree-cover problems and framed plantings as both beautification and heat-mitigation measures. "More shade, less heat," the presenter said, arguing tree plantings reduce energy bills and improve livability.
Board members asked several process and implementation questions. Member Flank and others urged the Westside group to coordinate its neighborhood-watch plans with Metro's area command and suggested working with city revitalization staff to add anti-graffiti and maintenance costs to the scope. A board member also requested clarity on whether existing HOAs within the Westside boundaries were participating; Martin said some HOAs had been involved in past years but not this application.
On funding, the transcript records the applicant mentioning a "minimum $3,000" figure and later a $22,600 total for the three projects; the phrasing in the audio was ambiguous, and Martin indicated the association will provide further documentation about the budget and volunteer match before deliberations. Neighborhood Services staff and board members recommended that Westside add graffiti-removal and block captains to their plan to increase long-term impact and suggested Metro and revitalization staff as partners.
The board's next step is deliberation on April 20; Westside leaders were asked to upload any missing invoices, pledge letters and clearer budget breakdowns to ZoomGrants ahead of that meeting.
