Keep doors open to help end suspicion

With the mistrust and accusations flying around McCook over the city's ongoing water problems, maybe it's time to give the community a reason to trust its leaders.

A document submitted by the Environmental Remediation Branch of the Department of the Army Corp of Engineers shows that there is no evidence that the old McCook Army Air Base site is contaminated by chemical warfare material -- one of the primary reasons a well site was never developed on the property.

The Air Base was purchased by the city in 1998. The city attempted to withdraw from the purchase after concerns were raised over possible contamination. Following a lawsuit in Red Willow County District Court, the city was ordered to pay Kim Swearingen nearly $3 million for the property. In January the city sold the property at a $1 million loss. That loss is being paid by McCook property tax owners with a one year special assessment.

A summary report describing the investigation by John Chulick, deputy project manager, said the three-member team "discussed the possibility of holding a public meeting or information session, but the city was concerned that a meeting might cause negative results."

Whether real or imagined, many of the problems facing the McCook City Council today are based on suspicions that in the past, transactions on different issues surrounding McCook's water problems were decided behind closed doors.

In the city manager's report for Monday's council agenda, John Bingham tells the council of the teams' offer to conduct a public meeting. The city should most certainly take them up on the offer.

Those doors -- again, whether real or imagined -- should finally be opened and removed. It is the only way this city will begin the healing process and grow to be the great community we all know it can be.

If those doors aren't finally removed, the prophesy of Abraham Lincoln in his 1858 speech at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Ill., is sure to be fulfilled -- "A house divided against itself cannot stand."