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utilities Once-a-week trash and recycling pickup approved By Conor Shine staff writer The Clark County Commission is amending its franchise agreement with trash hauler Republic Services to allow the company to extend a singlestream recycling program to 210,000 customers in the unincorporated county. Before it can handle the expected increase in recyclable materials, the county's waste collection franchisee needs to build a new recycling center at an expected cost of $25 million. A recent 5-2 decision by the county commission gives the company the assurance it needs to begin submitting applications for permits with the city of North Las Vegas and move forward with designing and building the recycling plant at Gowan Road and Commerce Street, said Bob Coyle, Republic Services vice president for government affairs. The commission voted in February to approve an ordinance authorizing the switch to single-stream recycling, but at the time commissioners decided not to amend the franchise agreement until several questions were answered, effectively preventing Republic Servic- streamlined: Instead of three small recycling bins, customers will have one large one. es from launching the program. Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Lawrence Weekly opposed the amendment approved; they also voted against the ordinance in February. The amendment will allow Republic Services to begin transitioning customers in the unincorporated county VEGAS INC from their usual red, white and blue recycling bins to a single cart for all recyclables. Coyle said the company expects to roll out the program in 2016. Once the program is in place, recycling will be picked up weekly, but customers will lose one day of trash pickup per week. A customer survey presented to commissioners showed 84.5 percent of people already using single-stream recycling were satisfied with the program, with about 20 percent of respondents unhappy with the loss of a day of trash pickup per week. The county audit department also reviewed Republic Service's recycling reports and found that switching from the individual bins to a single-stream cart led to an average per household increase in recycling from about 10 pounds to 42 pounds per month. Near the end of the debate, Commissioner Larry Brown said that although the concerns raised were legitimate, they didn't overshadow the fact that residents already on the single-stream program are satisfied. "One can challenge — and we've certainly heard that today — the percentages, the formulas, the rates, the audits, the profits ... and that's fine," Brown said. "But I don't want to lose sight of a couple things, first and foremost everything seems to be positive statistically in customer feedback and I don't think we can understate (that)." Q+A: robert oseland Will the opening of SLS change the game for the north Strip? By Ed Komenda staff writer Robert Oseland remembers the excitement he felt opening the Mirage as a blackjack dealer. He was part of something big and cutting edge, part of the future envisioned by Steve Wynn. Oseland, a Chicago native who came to Las Vegas to study at UNLV, has chased that feeling throughout his career. In the years since, he has worked as a slot executive at the Bellagio, chief operating officer at the Wynn and Encore, and now president of SLS Las Vegas. The $415 million, 1,600-room resort budding on the former grounds of the Sahara has been considered a key factor in the recovery of the Strip's struggling north end. The resort is scheduled | 16 DECEMBER 2013 20131216_VI07_F.indd 7 | to open next fall. Oseland recently sat down with VEGAS INC to chat about the project. On the benefits and challenges of taking Oseland over the Sahara … We're sort of forced into the past by taking over a 1950s building versus recreating something. We're excited about the concentration of energy. In the past, casinos were the focal point of the resort experience. As Las Vegas grew up, we built bigger and bigger and grander places, and we lost that connectivity. The lure and luster and ex- citement of the casino has been left behind for other experiences. It's food and beverage and nightlife oriented. The casino ends up competing for the space. As a result of us having to work within the Sahara's four walls, we're able to recreate the energy we lost over the past two decades. On the location of the SLS … It's like 40,000 cars a day that pass by. It's the fourth-busiest intersection in the state. As we move north, it's a matter of time and recovery. When we look at the reflection of when things were good, everything was moving north. We're reminded by all of the failed projects, but when the economy upturns, it'll come back north again. We just happen to be the first. On his role developing some of the Strip's biggest resorts … What I'm passionate about is partnering with visionaries and entrepreneurs to help bring ideas to life. I may not be the guy who has the cutting-edge vision, but I'm smart enough to smell it. I'm the one who can help shape it and make it come to life. I've found success in that kind of role. So my passions are around design and development and the tension of tying one of these things down and stabilizing it. 7 12/11/13 5:41:30 PM

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