What are they thinkin'?

Great timing! I received my income tax refund this week. The largess arrived just in time to trundle down to the court house and pay a large chunk of it into the county real-estate tax fund. Poor planning on my part I know. I should have arranged things to make withholding and income tax come out even. The feds refuse to pay interest on the money they withhold and use for free. Coming out even would have required digging up the money to pay the real-estate taxes an even greater pain. It could be worse though and will be if next year if the City of McCook gets their way.

There are plenty of large but empty buildings in McCook and the powers that be want to add the current public safety complex. That rambling building alongside the railroad track is perhaps better known as the police and fire station. Tucked inside there is even a city jail though it is now known as a "24 hour holding facility." Yes I agree that the place grew like Topsy and could be much more efficiently organized. A new building would do that!

The city police for years have wanted to rid themselves of the city jail, oops "holding facility." Tending to the short time prisoners is done efficiently with dispatch staff doubling as jailers being there 24/7 anyway. Doing away with the jail would force the county to greater expense to either build a county jail or spend more time on the road transporting suspected and convicted perps.

Farming out our prisoners being held longer than 24 hours is not a bad deal for southwestern Nebraska counties. Those counties, primarily Hitchcock and Frontier, are able to maintain 24 hour dispatch paid in part by the fees we pay for renting space in their county jails. But then in this modern world of electronics there is no reason why Red Willow County, or the City of McCook or any of the counties in Southwest Nebraska couldn't do all the dispatching for the entire area as well as maintain a regional jail in a more central location.

Then too rather than transporting prisoners to be physically present for most court appearances those short meetings could be done for the most part electronically. Cooperating in that manner would be asking the courts to change their ways and that is nigh impossible.

City staff has for years, as they grow ever larger in number, dreamed of a new office building. The auditorium hasn't lent itself well to city offices which still are not handicapped accessible. Both the offices and the council chamber could be made so by excavating dirt on the outside down to office-council chamber floor level and creating new entrances at that level. That idea went over like a lead balloon when I made the suggestion while serving on the Council. To be fair though city staff, when asked, is good to take documents outside to the parking lot to serve handicapped individuals.

Over the years the Auditorium has been beautifully preserved, modernized, and now is complete with air-conditioning. It appears to be well utilized by the community but I suspect that with the recent increase in fees that use will be dropping off. If the city offices are moved, what might be its future? Abandon and demolish?

Several years ago when the McCook school district expanded North Ward and closed the East and West Ward buildings one of the promises was lower taxes through greater efficiency. I wonder how that is working out.

The East Ward building has been partially developed into apartments by a private developer. Now it looks like the McCook Housing Agency is going to make it into a beautiful campus of well looked after "limited income" living facilities. It will be an asset to that neighborhood and I applaud Becky's efforts to make it happen.

What will happen to the solid as a brick outhouse National Guard Armory and the Reserve building on Airport road when the new Guard and Reserve complex now abuilding gets completed?

West Ward appears to be on the road to demolition to make way for a newer and bigger public safety center if city staff has their way. Guess who will get to pay for that dream. I just don't know how it will be presented to the taxpayers although I salute Mayor Berry's move to finance the project with bonds. Bonding will require a vote of at least some of the taxpayers who will end up paying that whopping bill.

I've also a suggestion. This year's McCook City Police budget is $1,440,038 and the County Sheriff's budget is $329,298 with an additional $309,070 going to a fund titled "jail." The grand total for Red Willow County (including McCook) is $2,078,406 or about $176 per resident per year. Notice that city tax payers totally pay the McCook Police budget plus the largest share of the Sheriff's budget. Now if the city and county would combine into a single law enforcement entity I'd be happy to apply the savings to a single new building with jail and area wide dispatching. That way our surrounding counties could help by contributing to that budget.

Come to the "Town Hall Meeting" Thursday the 29th to make your opinion known to City Council. The meeting will be in the Senior Center which is handicapped accessible.

That is the way I see it.