City to appoint sales tax group

The McCook City Council will appoint seven members from the community to serve on a sales tax ballot committee, at its regular meeting Monday night at 7:30, at City Council Chambers in Memorial Auditorium.

Council members voted to create the committee at its last meeting July 2. This committee will create the language and assist in the selection of projects to be funded by sales tax revenue.

The council also will be asked to approve "in principle" the sale of city property to Michael and Michelle Gonzales.

If approved, city staff will check to see if the value of the proposed purchase price is fair and if it is, come back to the Council with an ordinance for the sale.

The Gonzales' have offered $1,500 to purchase 15 feet of a vacant, city-owned lot that is next to their home at 810 Norris Ave.

The city property, next to the McCook Public Library, is used for occasional parking. The Gonzales' current lot size is 35 by 140 feet and they would use the additional space to create a buffer between their property and the city lot.

The purchase offer of $1,500 for 2,100 square feet is based on .71 cents per square foot, the county assessor valuation of the Gonzales property.

And council members will sharpen their pencils for the first budget workshop on the 2007-08 budget, scheduled to begin after the regular meeting. Another budget workshop is set for Tuesday night and again Wednesday night, if needed.

In other business, the council will be asked to:

* approve on its second reading to amend an ordinance that will clarify the number of commissioners on the McCook Housing Agency Board;

* approve drawings and specifications for new pumps and flow meter at the Karrer Park lift station and to set the date for bids. The improvements are scheduled to be completed by October 2007 and will increase efficiency and use less maintenance.

* conduct a public hearing and approve a special exception requested by Feona Berry for a beauty shop at 1307 West J;

* approve the request from St. Patrick Catholic Church to close East Fourth from F to G streets and East G from East Third to Fourth, for their annual Fall Festival September 22 and 23;

* approve the request from the McCook National Bank to close streets around the bank from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sept. 8, for their 100th anniversary. Areas the bank would like closed are West First between B and C streets; the city parking lot on the west side of the street on the 200 block of West First and the alley on the 200 block between Norris Avenue and West First.