Transportation projects, Knights get a lift from LVCVA board
Transportation was top of mind for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on Tuesday — unless you count the numerous tributes at the meeting to the Golden Knights.
Several board members and LVCVA executives wore their Golden Knights gear as the board in less than an hour pushed through $70.5 million of spending, most under multiyear agreements that had been previously budgeted.
The Knights were scheduled to play a potentially decisive Stanley Cup playoff game Tuesday night.
Of the $70.5 million total, $60 million is dedicated to a three-year extension of an operations and maintenance agreement with Western Management Group for the Las Vegas Monorail. The agreement, which runs through June 30, 2026, includes a new ridership revenue bonus clause since monorail ridership is mostly recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.
The agreement currently provides for a WMG management bonus of 15 percent of system net revenue, not to exceed $750,000 per year. The amendment to the agreement will exclude 60 percent of advertising revenue from the net revenue calculation.
The LVCVA acquired the monorail out of bankruptcy for $24.5 million in September 2020 and signed a $45 million operations contract in January 2021.
Since the system’s reopening in May 2021, it has moved 8.7 million riders and has received solid customer service scores and secret shopper reports.
Another monorail expense approved by the board was a $1.6 million marketing agreement with Levy Online to maintain the system’s website. The first-year contract is for $525,000 running July 1 through June 30, 2024, with two one-year extensions allowed.
Boring Co. expense
At the time, purchasing the monorail was viewed as a bridge to the next transportation innovation, The Boring Co.’s Las Vegas Loop underground transit system. Boring’s planned citywide system had its origins with the three-stop, mile-long Convention Center Loop, which also had an operations contract extension Tuesday.
The one-year contract that runs July 1 through June 30, 2024, is for $4.6 million.
The system has transported more than 1 million passengers in its first two years of operation and has a high satisfaction rating with conventioneers, according to the LVCVA.
South Korea office
In other business Tuesday, the LVCVA board approved:
■ Spending $1.1 million over three years to establish a representative LVCVA office in South Korea. The board approved a one-year agreement with two optional one-year extensions with AVIAREPS Tourism-Korea to market Las Vegas to the South Korean market. Nearly half of South Korea’s 202,000 visitors to the United States came to Las Vegas, thanks to nonstop service between Seoul and Harry Reid International Airport on Korean Air, which operates four flights a week.
■ A $6.7 million promotions agreement with Las Vegas Events to market special events for Las Vegas, Laughlin and Mesquite, for July 1 through June 30, 2024.
■ The spending of $600,000 to promote the NBA Summer League program July 7-17, featuring first- and second-year players in 75 games for all 30 National Basketball Association teams at the Thomas &Mack Center. The summer league is expected to draw more than 41,850 out-of-town visitors and generate an estimated total economic impact of $91.6 million.
— Spending $150,000 a year for the next three years to Waxie Sanitary Supply Co. for janitorial supplies for the Las Vegas Convention Center.
■ A contract agreement with the Service Employees International Union running from July 1 through June 30, 2028, that includes wage increases of $2.3 million over five years. The new collective bargaining agreement approved an additional holiday, Juneteenth, and revised personal leave policies as well as changing gender-specific language to gender-neutral. The contract update required a public hearing, but no one spoke for or against the changes.
While many attendees were excited about the Golden Knights — North Las Vegas Mayor and LVCVA Secretary Pamela Goynes-Brown led a “Go Knights Go” chant as the meeting ended — former Las Vegas Mayor and board member Jan Jones Blackhurst urged the board to continue to recognize the city’s first professional national champion, the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, and consider equal treatment for men’s and women’s sports in Southern Nevada.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
Hospitality Heroes
Three hospitality industry workers were recognized Tuesday as "Hospitality Heroes" by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
And all three were credited with saving a life.
Rodney Quijano, a security bike officer at Planet Hollywood, was recognized for coming to the rescue of a vendor who had collapsed. He performed chest compressions to help revive the man.
Stanley Lamoya and Kenette Soliman, bike officers at Westgate Las Vegas, were on a routine patrol of the property when they discovered a man in distress who said he was considering harming himself. They comforted him and encouraged him to accept help when it arrived.
— Richard N. Velotta
