Support, savings, gift cited for combined vote

McCOOK, Neb. – There are three reasons city leaders decided to combine the swimming pool and the ballparks into one ballot question, according to Jeff Gross, a representative of the McCook On the Move Committee at Wednesday night’s KICX Candidate’s Forum

The McCook On The Move Committee has been formed to promote the passage of the half-cent sales tax increase for the purpose of improving recreational facilities in McCook, particularly to build a new swimming pool and for the use of ballparks.

One of the reasons the two projects were combined was because there are major supporters for both projects. Planners felt it was in the best interest of the community to not pit the supporters of the two entities against one another, according to Gross.

The second reason was cost savings. “We also knew that the cost of issuance of the bonds would be doubled if we went through two separate ballot questions,” Gross said. He said two separate ballot questions may have also been confusing to voters.

The third reason was that a $6 million gift is hard to turn down. The half-cent sales tax will produce approximately $12 million over the 20-year period. Gross said the first portion of the tax will pay for the swimming pool.

The remaining will pay for the ballparks. Currently, organizers have in-kind contributions “upwards of” $6 million. “It was really hard to walk away from a $6 million pledge and donation and say we’re not ready for that yet. And so, we felt like the time was right to combine these two entities and put them together in one ballot question,” Gross said.

McCook residents Lloyd and Elizabeth Benjamin offered to donate property for a new ballpark, contingent on the ballot measure passing. About 135 acres will be donated to the city with 60-70 acres used for a ballpark. The rest of the property gives the city options for future development. The current Jaycee Complex is on property owned by Red Willow County and leased by the city.

Gross said more fundraising will need to happen to build new ball diamonds. “If those dollars end up not being raised, the recreational bond is written so that all of those monies can then be used to update and fix up our current facilities, which would include the Jaycee Complex and Felling Field.”

Gross told the gathering that the economic impact of hosting baseball and softball tournaments is huge. “It is overwhelming for the community in hotels, restaurants, food,” Gross said. He went on to say that McCook lost a lot of dollars to Oberlin and Colby last summer because McCook did not have a swimming pool for residents. In addition, Gross said it is hard to recruit employees who have families if there is no public swimming pool or sufficient ball diamonds in the community for their children.

The City of McCook swimming pool was not opened for the summer of 2022. After years of trying to put band-aids on the aging structure, city officials decided it was not safe to open this past summer. Gross said the current ballparks are also in a state that needs drastic repair and additional space is needed.

“Since the Jaycees Complex was built years ago – it was built as a recreational park - McCook High School added softball; McCook Community College added baseball and softball. And there are so many more traveling teams than there ever were. And we have no practice space. That’s what led this main discussion of ball diamonds three or four years ago was practice space.”

He continued that if the current sales tax increase were passed only for the purpose of building a new swimming pool, it would be ten years before that bond was paid for and the city could propose another bond for the purposes of improving ball fields. “We know where our pool ended up by not getting something done earlier. We’d be right in that same position with ballparks ten years from now. So, it made a lot of sense to bring these recreational bonds together to improve all facilities in one fell swoop,” Gross said.

He said the swimming pool has been discussed for years, with a plan for a new pool already approved by the City Council. The ballpark project began as a proposed donation of land by private individuals, and discussions involved the City of McCook, McCook Public Schools, McCook Community College, American Legion, and many supporters of baseball and softball in the community. Those discussions have been going on for three to four years, according to Gross.

The ballot question asks voters to increase the current 1.5% city sales tax to 2% with the additional .5% going to a bond to improve recreational infrastructure, including a swimming pool and ballparks.