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Boulder City strategic workshop elevates water redundancy and housing priorities
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Summary
At a council workshop on the city's five‑year strategic plan, staff and council debated converting a raw water line to potable service for redundancy, the timing of that conversion, and whether to accelerate a citywide housing assessment to attract younger families; council requested further study and for several items to be agendized.
City Manager presented a quarterly strategic plan update and asked the council for priority direction, placing particular emphasis on infrastructure and long‑term resiliency.
On water redundancy, the city manager described preliminary conversations with the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection about converting an existing raw water line to a potable feed to create a second potable route into the city. "The proposal was made that we convert the raw water line into a potable water line so that we have a little bit of redundancy," the city manager said, noting the conversion would require testing and sanitation work and could raise the cost of irrigation water currently used on parks and golf courses.
Council members pressed the urgency and tradeoffs. One council member pointed to a vulnerability in the system and said, "In the summer months, we have 8 hours of water stored in our tanks. So if something were to happen ... we would have, in the summer months, 8 hours of water before we're out of potable drinking water." The manager and council agreed to agendize a deeper discussion and to seek further technical input from subject‑matter experts and SNWA as staff can secure the feasibility reports.
Housing and demographic concerns surfaced as a recurring priority. Several council members urged moving a citywide housing assessment up the workplan so the city can better identify starter‑home opportunities and consider zoning changes. The manager said such a study could be coordinated with an upcoming Title 11 zoning ordinance update and recommended running them on parallel tracks so each can inform the other.
Other strategic highlights included ongoing work to diversify revenue streams, grant activity (Paul Sikora, acting finance director, said the city manages roughly $12–$15 million in active grants), continued attention to public safety accreditation and facility needs, and an energy‑efficiency partnership concept staff is exploring to bundle facility upgrades.
What happens next: Council instructed staff to return with more detailed options and cost information for the potable conversion, to consider moving the housing assessment earlier in the workplan, and to provide grant and revenue summaries as part of the January reports to council.
