Will city drop jail facilities?

Admitting he's reading into the city manager's letter, Red Willow County Commission Chairman Earl McNutt said Monday morning the City of McCook probably won't have jail facilities at some point.

"We've known forever that the county is responsible for handling all prisoners," McNutt said, during a weekly meeting of the commissioners. McNutt and fellow commissioners Steve Downer and Leigh Hoyt were discussing McCook City Manager John Bingham's response to the county's inquiries about the city's plans to build a new public safety center, and whether that center would have prisoner holding cells and/or jail facilities.

Bingham told commissioners, in a letter dated Aril 6, that a new public safety center "is just an idea" at this point. He also wrote that the city is under no obligation to provide jail facilities -- including the 96-hour holding cells it now provides. He wrote, "It may be prudent for your task force to consider an option providing all jail services, including the short-term holding facilities now provided by the city, for consideration by your consultant in case the City of McCook should abandon these facilities some time in the future."

McNutt said the possibility of losing the city's 96-hour holding cells may "force the county's hand" to provide all-inclusive jail facilities.

Hoyt said the lack of even holding cells in McCook would mean that county officers would have to transport prisoners to out-of-county jail facilities even for very short periods of time. "We'd have to transport someone even if it's 2 o'clock in the morning," Hoyt said.

AUDIT

McCook accountant Donald Wilson told commissioners he found no overdrawn budgets or incidents of reportable noncompliance in the county's 2003-2004 budget.

Wilson said, in fact, looking back over the past five to seven years, Red Willow County's net assets, revenues and disbursements have remained fairly consistent, with no major, significant changes. "I see counties whose net assets continually go down," Wilson said, "and these counties are having problems."

Wilson said he did point out in his audit report that, due to a limited number of personnel, Red Willow County has a "lack of segregation of duties in the offices of the treasurer, clerk, sheriff, attorney, veterans services office, county health department and the county fair." This, Wilson pointed out, is, is a "very standard comment." He suggested determining the cost benefits of strengthening internal controls, where possible, within budgetary limitations.

ARMOR COATING

Commissioners and Roads Supervisor Gary Dicenta will finalize bid specs for summer armor-coating projects at the commissioners' May 2 meeting. Bids will be opened June 13, at 10 a.m.

Commissioners may add a short stretch of gravel road north of the fairgrounds, into Countryside Estates on West Seventh, to the list of summer projects.

County Clerk and election official Pauletta Gerver asked commissioners to investigate the possibility of armor coating the fairgrounds' rock and gravel road from the concrete off West Fifth to the Community Building. Gerver said state election officials encourage that all polling places be easily accessible for handicapped and elderly voters.

Gerver said she has 700 registered voters at the Community Building and 500-600 at the 4-H Building. Both polling places will be combined at the Community Building next year, she said.

McNutt said any decision regarding fairgrounds property would have to be made by the fair board and costs of any projects included in the fair board's annual budget.

In other action, commissioners:

* Approved a motor vehicle tax exemption for Community Hospital of McCook, which purchased a 2005 Ford van to transport employees to seminars.

* Approved accounts payable claims and reviewed and filed the clerk of the district court's monthly fee report.