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Senators’ staff meet with lake community constituents
McCOOK, Neb. - An unexpected crowd greeted staffers for Nebraska's two U.S. Senators during their McCook meeting yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
Nebraska U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts' Central Nebraska Constituent Services Directors hosted a joint mobile office meeting in McCook for the first time.
The meeting at the McCook Economic Development Corporation Board at the Keystone Building was led by Josh Jelden, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer's Central Nebraska Constituent Services and Outreach Director, and Sarah Cathcart, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts's Director of Central Nebraska Constituent Services. Both play crucial roles in their respective offices in Kearney.
Cathcart and Jelden said they typically hold separate meetings, but with the Community Hospital's 50th Anniversary, they decided to hold the meeting together.
The two U.S. Senator staffers had just commented they usually get very few people to attend the meetings. At about that time, almost 20 people, united in their cause, filed in the door to the board room, most of whom were wearing "Help Save The Good Life, Lake Community" T-shirts.
They were trailer owners and marina/concession owners from Red Willow and Swanson Reservoirs.
Jelden clarified to the audience that the mobile meetings were designed as 'listening sessions', providing a platform for them to share their concerns and ideas, which would then be relayed to their respective legislative teams and bosses. He then invited those in the audience to voice their thoughts.
Dawna Vap, Swanson Lake Good Life Marina/Concession Owner, said her group wanted to extend their gratitude to Senators Fischer and Ricketts for introducing the Senate Bill to transfer the land at the lakes in Frontier and Hitchcock County from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to the local counties. "I guess we are just here to see if there is anything else we can be doing to ensure this bill gets passed," she said.
"First and foremost, keep those phone calls coming in; let us know that it is important," said Jelden. "We obviously know that it is important to everyone, but I would just say to continue to correspond."
In May, Sens. Fischer and Ricketts, along with U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, introduced legislation to allow the transfer of cabin areas at Swanson and Red Willow Reservoirs to Hitchcock County and Frontier County, respectively.
Presently, those bills in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are waiting for committee hearings before having a chance to move on in the legislative process. In the meantime, Vap says their current lease agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will force the removal of the trailers at the lakes on January 1, 2025. The land transfer has to be completed by then unless a different agreement can be reached with BOR.
Bill Roddy, owner of a Swanson Lake Trailer, asked when a U.S. Senate Committee might hear the bill.
Jelden explained that it is a slow process, but it was getting worked on. Jelden contacted Craig Berning, Senator Fischer's Legislative Assistant in Washington.
Berning responded, "The Committee told us they are expecting to do a hearing on Bureau of Reclamation Bills in July or early September, and we are hopeful that it will be July. We have spoken with both the Chair and the Ranking Member about the legislation, and they have not expressed any concerns to us at this time."
Berning recommended that the trailer owners and the counties continue to work to get additional support for the bills. In particular, support from Colorado Senators, who are both Democrats, will not hurt their cause.
Roddy said they are jumping from hurdle to hurdle, and the next hurdle is the committee hearing. "We have to get it through the committee."
One in the crowd laughed, "We are fishermen and lake people, not politicians