Refurb or build new?

City Council eyeing new civic center or investing in Memorial Auditorium

McCOOK, Neb. -- City leaders advanced a measure which they hope will provide insight into meeting the areas convention and civic center needs, Monday evening, while one resident asked them to take a hard look at a local building.

The research stems from a hotel developer's offer to build a convention center which the City of McCook would later purchase and manage.

The McCook City Council approved a $4,500 grant acceptance form the McCook Community Foundation Fund Monday evening. The grant is intended to partially fund feasibility studies of Memorial Auditorium and construction of a new convention/meeting facility. The acceptance form stated the funds would be specifically used for feasibility studies intended to determine if Memorial Auditorium could be modified to serve as a convention/ meeting facility, or another use, and if a new convention/meeting facility would be possible.

A citizen in attendance, Phyllis Ogg, asked City Council to keep Memorial Auditorium and said it was a WPA project when constructed. She said the structure was a historic building and site, and indicated the City of Oberlin had invested in a similar convention/civic center and now regretted the decision.

Ogg encouraged City Council to look at renovating Memorial Auditorium to meet current needs before building a new structure.

Prior to Ogg's comments, City Councilman Bruce McDowell praised the McCook Community Foundation for awarding the grant. He asked city staff if City Council would be voting on how the money was spent.

City Manager Nate Schneider said a review would be conducted to discover the costs of completing a feasibility study and said $4,500 represented a portion of what he estimated to be closer to a $10,000 expense. Schneider indicated the City of Crete, Nebraska, had gone through a similar process and he planned to contact them for comparison purposes.

Crete was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development in 2015 to be used for planning a conference and convention center, according to the NEDED website.

Also during Monday's regularly scheduled meeting Utilities Director Jesse Dutcher reported a water leak near the intersection of East First Street and East K Street had been repaired.

Dutcher said the project turned into quite an ordeal and city staff resorted to 1926 water line maps after running into several issues. They discovered three homes hooked to a previously unknown waterline which was undersized and very old. The homes were subsequently hooked to a new service line and the old line was abandoned.

Dutcher said water service and traffic should return to normal in the area and thanked the public for patience during the repairs.

City Manager Nate Schneider said water line infrastructure in some neighborhoods was approaching 90 to 100 years of age and the city would need to keep an eye on it.

During the citizen's comments portion of the meeting Phyllis Ogg presented images of a residential property on the 100 block of South Second Street she believed to be a nuisance. The images showed scrap-metal, wooden boards and old vehicles on the property.

Ogg asked if anything could be done to get the property cleaned up and Health Board member and McCook Chief of Police Isaac Brown responded that it was already on a list of properties that should have a received a letter from the city last week.

Mayor Mike Gonzales thanked Ogg for bringing the item to City Council and indicated city staff would look into it.

Other items on Monday's consent and regular agenda:

* A public hearing was coordinated to discuss a beer, wine and distilled spirits liquor license application from Tequilas Restaurants at 205 Norris Avenue. No comments were presented during the public hearing and the application was subsequently approved to be forwarded to the Nebraska Liquor Commission. City Manager Nate Schneider indicated the application was standard procedure.

* City staff was approved to hire Harry A. Koch, Co., Insurance and Financial Consultants, for $5,000 to shop property and casualty insurance for the city.

* The Senior Citizens Advisory Board meeting was moved from a monthly meeting schedule to quarterly. City staff indicated monthly meetings were not necessary and additional meetings could be scheduled as necessary.

* City Council entered executive session for strategy sessions relating to collective bargaining agreements with the police and fire department unions and a potential real estate purchase.

* Plans and bid specifications for construction of a skatepark at Kelley Park were approved and the deadline to receive bids was set for July 28, 2015. The estimated cost of the project is $130,050, with City Council previously committing $30,000 and skatepark supporters raising $95,046 through private donations and grant funds, according to the meeting agenda.