Employee-play keno ordinance advances 4-1

Councilman Jack Rogers was the lone hold-out concerning a proposed ordinance that would allow owners of businesses that sell keno, and their employees, to play the computerized lottery game after work at their own location.

The ordinance, up for a second hearing, was approved by 4 to 1 with no discussion. It will have one more hearing before the council before it goes into effect.

Current city code prohibits business owners and their employees from playing the game. The proposed ordinance would allow them to play at the location, except that those who sell keno tickets would be restricted from playing one hour before or after writing keno tickets

After the council meeting, Councilman Rogers said he was not convinced that all computer systems were infallible

"You're always reading about hackers getting into some computer system, such as the Air Defense Command or Social Security," he explained. Although he did not believe employees would try to break into the system, "Why put

the temptation out there?" he said.

The regular council meeting Monday night wrapped things up within ten minutes,

approving all consent items unanimously without discussion along with the one

regular agenda item concerning the ordinance.

City Manager Kurt Fritsch announced at the start of the meeting that RDG

has been retained on a trial basis for building inspection for the city, with former

city councilman Marty Conroy.

McCook City Police Chief introduced to the council patrol officer David Ortiz, who has been with the police department for six years and has been promoted to sergeant after scoring the highest on testing. Brown also gave brief report on the surplus auction the police department had recently for excess items, mainly towed vehicles. The auction brought in about $2,800 and cost around $300 in expenses, with auctioneer Dennis Youngs donating his time for the city. Brown said he would submit a more detailed report about the auction to the council in the future.

McCook City Fire Chief Marc Harpham gave the council an update on the firefighters who competed at the World Championship Firefightrer Combat Challenge in Las Vegas earlier in the month.

The top 55 teams ran times under 1.48 and the the McCook team clocked in with a time of 1.55, missing making the top 55 by seven seconds

Still, he said the Challenge, which drew 300 teams worldwide, was a good experience for the team and that they were discussing new training techniques to use next year.