County Commission OKs deal to build Las Vegas Raiders stadium

In the agreement, the Las Vegas-bound Raiders will pay for the improvement of infrastructure and public safety at and around the $1.9 billion stadium, of which $750 million is publicly funded.

“The Raiders have basically accepted everything requested by the county,” said Jay Brown, a local attorney representing the Raiders.

The improvements include widening sidewalks, improving existing roadways and likely building a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 15 linking the stadium to Mandalay Bay. The Raiders would own any bridges they pay for, according to county staff.

Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick touted the Raiders agreement to build an emergency operations center inside the stadium and also outfit the stadium with $1.4 million in equipment for firefighting, communications and traffic control.

Kirkpatrick said the stadium’s mezzanine will house a law enforcement control center with holding cells and an interrogation room.

“I just wanted to make sure that the general public to know we have thought of everything that public safety would need in order to have successful events,” Kirkpatrick said.

The team will also pay for a resident fire inspector and plans reviewer during stadium construction.

Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Lawrence Weekly both asked that the Raiders regularly return before the county commission to give updates and answer questions about the project. A tentative return date of about three months was given.

LV Stadium Co. Chief Operating Officer Don Webb told commissioners he expects workers to begin using dynamite to blast sedimentary rock from the ground later this month. The process should last about 10 days, Webb said.

Work still to be done

While the Raiders have begun preparing the lowest levels of the stadium, they do not have permission to begin building upward.

The team must create and obtain funding for a deconstruction plan before vertical construction on the 225-foot-tall stadium can begin.

And space must be found for the nearly 14,000 off-site parking spaces the stadium needs to comply with county code. An updated transportation study identifying such locations is due from the team in September.

The Nevada Board of Regents will get its first look at the UNLV Joint-Use Agreement between the Raiders and the regents at a public meeting Thursday.

The agreement provides specific details of the UNLV football team’s access to the planned 65,000-seat stadium.

“We think we’ve reached a meeting of the minds on the material terms of their tenancy and joint use of the facility,” Webb said.

Regents are not expected to vote on the agreement until their Jan. 19 meeting.

The Stadium Authority Board also must complete its own development agreement. Doing so by February is crucial to having the stadium finished before the start of the 2020 NFL season.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.