City signs contract for Guard-Reserve Center

"no problem in finding a tenant." Then why are so many other buildings downtown still vacant? Just another pipedream and open ended promises to convince us to use more taxpayer money towards something that will do the average citizen no benefit.

There are a lot of different types of buildings one may need. No, maybe no one needs a small retail store downtown off of B street. I can tell you right now, there are NO warehouse facilities available in this town because of demand for them. Any kind of building that can be used for a warehouse will be used. There are people all over SW NE looking for that. there's plenty available in places like Stratton and Palisade, but that's not where it's needed.

I just hope that we can stick with the theme of how good for McCook this is by using McCook or SW NE contractors and builders for this thing instead doing the statsu quo and bring in an outfit from Omaha or Lincoln...and you wonder why everyone wants to pack up and leave for LIncoln and Omaha.

Dear City of McCook,

Do us all a favor for our sake and the sake of our kids that might actually want to stay here and make a life for themselves. Hire locally as much as possible. I don't care if the bid is higher than one from Lincoln. We need a little bit of self-preservation around here!

All the talk about how great this project is won't be worth anymore than the paper it's printed on to us of you don't hire locally! Duh!

Justin76

You better just pack your s##t and git. McCook is not going to hire out a project of that size to local contractors. It just doesn't happen. How many big projects in McCook ever get local? Answer: probably none. A company out of Lincoln or Omaha may (and I repeat, MAY) hire a local contractor or 2. Feel lucky if that happens. That's McCook's way of doing things!!! Good luck on your self-preservation!

sadly, you're right

None of you are understanding who is building this building apparently. The City of McCook has nothing to do with the building itself, it is the State and Federal Govt. building it. McCook has no say in who builds it.

The government is building this facility. McCook is paying (the taxpayers -- us citizens) for the water and sewer to be put in. And they wonder why they need more money from taxes to support what they already have.......sort of ironic, isn't it.

Hold on to your money! The city will figure out a way to get it for things that really aren't needed.

Hey Rod, the City may not have anything to say about who builds it because its Federal however the City (taxpayers) are paying for it! We should have a say! We just gave away a valuable piece of ground. If the City was interested in getting rid of it, why wasn't it offerred to someone who would actually pay for it? Why can't the Govt "refurbish" the other 2 buildings? Why do they have to have "new" and again two more buildings are being left empty for us to figure out what to do. I know, wait a few years, let them go dilapitated and then condemn.

I believe what Rod is saying is the building will be paid out of the State and Federal budget. McCook has no more say in who will build this facility than we would have in who we want to build a similiar facility in Kearney. Once that money goes into a State or Federal budget, it's up to them to carry out their respective bidding projects.

It's my understanding that proximity to the airport, consolidation of the two branches, a need for expansion and security are some of the reasons for the site and the need for a new facility.

The Army and National Guard had a choice with this building... they could have built it in a different community! I think the focus is being lost on this posting. The economic benefit of having the National Guard and Army Reserve centers in McCook far outweigh the costs associated with this project on a local cost basis! There will be federal and state money spent in McCook during the construction. I agree that local contractors should be used when possible but that part of the process is left to those governmental divisions to decide.

The bigger and more long term impact of this building is the payroll and local spending provided to the fine men and women in uniform that use this building for training and support reasons. If 100 service personnel were E-3 pay grade, one weekend drill is worth $212 or $21,200 in payroll to citizens of this area. Annually, weekend drills alone would provide over $250,000 in income to our local citizens (source-www.negaurd.com). Those citizen soldiers buy homes, cars, raise children, and consider McCook their home.

The users of this facility will be your neighbors and friends that have and will continue to serve this country in times of need. They deserve to have a training facility that actually reduces costs (shared facility) and allows them to be better prepared when our country calls on them again!

What is going to happen to the old National Guard building on West 7th Street? Will it stand vacant?? Or is the City going to let it be sold for big money and they reap the profits?? Or does the government get the profit??

The city should buy it and remodel it for the new city public saftey center instead of the old school. It is a very good structure. But like in the past, they will want something totally different, leaving another building vacant for the taxpayers to pay for. When will this stop????