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Ballpark, pool, ballot questions explored at town hall meeting
McCOOK, Neb. — The City of McCook, McCook Public Schools and McCook Community College would enter into an arrangement for the maintenance and operation of a new proposed ballpark.
That way, costs would be spread equally, said City Manager Nate Schneider at the town hall meeting Tuesday night. The meeting, attended by about 50 at the McCook Evangelical Free Church, concerned the recreational bond backed by city sales tax, that voters will decide upon at the Nov. 8 general election.
Voters will be asked to approve increasing the 1.5% city sales tax to 2%, with proceeds from the .5% going toward a bond that will be used to build a new swimming pool and ballpark facility/improvements. The .5% city sales tax increase has to sunset in 10 years, or until the bond debt is paid. It’s anticipated that $12 million will be needed in the sale of bonds for a new pool and ballpark and full payback of those bonds is estimated to occur after 20 years. Once the bonds are paid in full, the .5% sales tax would automatically discontinue.
Six million from the .5% city sales tax increase will go to a new pool and another $6 million would go to a new ballpark, estimated at $15 million for a scaled-down version. The remainder needed for the ballpark would come from fundraising, pledges and grants. If enough money isn’t fundraised/pledged, city sales tax revenue collected from the .5% would go toward improvements at the current Jaycees Ball Complex.
Already, $6 million has been pledged for a new ballpark. The McCook Masonic Lodge has pledged $250,000 for a new pool, contingent on the approval of the ballot question.
The new pool would be at the site of the current pool, as infrastructure is still in place, Schneider said. A new pool would actually have lower costs of operation, he said, with $100,000 used at the current pool in 2018-19 and $87,000 estimated for a new pool, as operations would be more efficient.
The new ballpark would be west of the city, on 130 acres of land donated to the city. About 70-80 acres would be used for the ballpark, leaving 50 acres for future development.
The city will have to run a water line to the ballpark, as there were groundwater concerns about the submersible wells first proposed, Schneider said. The cost of the line would be between $850,000 and $950,000, depending on which direction the line comes in from.
Questions asked by citizens included city sales tax money already earmarked for the pool, the lack of practice fields and an update on the splash pad proposed at Kelley Park.
Schneider said $180,000 from city sales tax revenue has been earmarked in the past for the pool, which could be used for construction costs. Additionally, there is $200,000 in uncommitted city sales tax revenue, budgeted from the past two years, that could also be utilized.
The lack of practice fields is a concern, said one citizen, who also asked how younger kids who can’t drive would be able to easily access the new ballpark. Jon Olsen, MCC head baseball coach and athletic director, said a scaled-down version of the ballpark (at $15 million) would have two fields and a four-plex, for a total of six fields. Dirt work would be done on the other four-plex, so it could be used for practice fields.
McCook School Board member Tom Bredvick added that Felling Field would still be open and is a viable practice field for younger children, as it’s located inside McCook.
As for a splash pad, City of McCook Public Works Director Kyle Potthoff said it’s been discussed at the Parks Committee and that it would be located in Kelley Park. Potthoff said he’s been working with a company on a splash pad but there’s been difficulty in getting cost estimates.
The question was raised why the two projects, the new pool and ballpark, were combined into one question on the ballot and Schneider responded that if the projects were separated on a ballot, it could pit supporters of each project against each other and that bond counsel advised that two questions would be too confusing. Also, if one project was approved and not the other, a ballot question for another bond couldn’t be brought back to the voters for approval until a current bond was paid off.
If a new pool was constructed, it could open by 2024. A new ballpark would take two years of construction.
Ronda Graff, McCook Community Foundation Fund coordinator and former member of the McCook Swimming pool committee (the committee has been dissolved), said as Barnett Park is not usable anymore for soccer, finding enough practice fields has been a challenge. If a new ballpark is added now, the city won’t be in the situation they are currently in about the pool.
The pool, built as a Works Progress Administration project in 1937, is 85 years old. From the outside, it looks usable, Graff said, but underneath the pool, equipment is decades old and not safe for employees. The city pool has been shut down for the past two years.
Another question was raised that some are getting the city sales to increase on the ballot confused with property taxes. Schneider said the ballot question is a city sales tax increase of .5%, not a property tax increase.
If the recreational bond question is not approved in November, a ballot question for another city sales tax-backed bond could not be brought back to voters for 23 months.
The meeting Tuesday night was conducted as a city council meeting, as the majority of the council attended, with Councilman Jerry Calvin absent.