The Raiders’ first football game in Las Vegas could be delayed by one year if the Stadium Authority doesn’t approve a lease agreement with the team before an NFL owners’ meeting later this month.

While Raiders President Marc Badain acknowledged the one-year setback is a “possibility,” all signs point toward rapid completion of the key document. The Stadium Authority, which met Thursday, plans to gather again May 18 to review the lease agreement and likely take a vote.

Stadium Authority Chairman Steve Hill said he’s confident the nine-member board can sign off on the document ahead of the NFL’s spring league meeting, which begins May 22 in Chicago. The league wants to give the lease agreement its seal of approval this month, rather than wait until the owners meet again in October.

“I think we’ll get there,” Hill said, adding that the priority is ensuring the public’s protection. “We’re pretty darn close.”

The Stadium Authority reviewed an updated version of the 101-page lease agreement Thursday and focused on three issues deemed of paramount importance: the preservation of the facility, maximizing the stadium as a community asset and defining the joint-use relationship with UNLV.

Each year, the Stadium Authority will contribute $5 million from hotel room tax revenue to a fund set aside for capital repairs. The stadium events company — an affiliate of the Raiders — will put $2.5 million toward that fund as well, bringing the yearly total to $7.5 million.

Jeremy Aguero, whose local research firm, Applied Analysis, staffs the Stadium Authority, called the contributions a “significant investment” toward preserving the facility over the life of the 30-year lease.

The new lease draft also contains a section focused on the stadium’s performance, which is hinged on the number of events hosted there and, thus, new visitors it brings to town. The lease language provides for annual updates about the facility’s use:

“(The Stadium Events Company) agrees that it will provide a good faith effort and undertake commercially reasonable best practices to maximize the utility of the Stadium,” according to the document. “Once each year, (the Stadium Events Company) shall provide to the Authority Board at a public meeting an overview of how the Stadium has been maximized during the past year and its plans to maximize the utility of the Stadium going forward.”

The lease agreement has garnered the most attention, but it’s only one of roughly a dozen documents the stakeholders must finalize before construction begins. Some of the others include a development agreement, joint-use agreement with UNLV, non-relocation agreement and community benefits plan.

The Stadium Authority hopes to approve all project documents by the end of October. Initial work at the stadium site — near Russell Road and Interstate 15 — could begin as early as November. The county is in the midst of its high-impact project review process, which includes a myriad of infrastructure-related studies prior to land-use approval.

As the clock ticks closer to construction, multiple business owners and community leaders attended Thursday’s meeting and urged Stadium Authority members to ensure employment opportunities for minority workers.

“I’m here today because the historically black westside community has not been treated right nor are they being treated right as we speak as it relates to the work going on,” said Gene Collins, a former Nevada Assemblyman and longtime community leader in West Las Vegas. “If someone like myself doesn’t stand up and say we need a fair shake, who is going to do it?”

The legislation authorizing public money for the stadium includes a provision requiring the developer to create a community benefits plan that ensures a broad swatch of local residents can participate in the project. A community oversight committee would then carry out such a plan.

Last fall, Democratic state Sens. Aaron Ford and Kelvin Atkinson held a news conference and outlined several expected tenets of any forthcoming community benefits plan, including hiring goals to reach a diverse group of Nevadans.

Hill plans to meet with Ford next week to discuss the community benefits plan — specifically, how it will be created and how the oversight committee will be chosen.

“Over the next couple months, we’ll get that in place,” he said.

The Raiders hope to relocate to Las Vegas for the 2020 football season, meaning the stadium must be ready that summer.

Feature photo: Photo rendering courtesy of MANICA Architecture.