Councilman's resignation on agenda

Anyone who may be thinking about filling the McCook City Council seat, left open by the resignation of Jerry Reitz, will have only two weeks to decide.

The McCook City Council will be asked to formally accept Reitz's resignation at its regular meeting, Monday, 7:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers of the McCook City Auditorium.

Reitz offered his resignation at the council's regular meeting on Aug. 2, citing an increase in his plumbing business. Later, in his letter of resignation, he said he could not support the council's decision to treat water from a southern well field.

Once the council accepts the resignation, it will direct City Clerk Lee Ann Doak to declare a vacancy.

The next step for the council will be to appoint an interim council member until a new council is seated in December.

The interim councilmember must meet with the approval of a majority of the remaining four councillors on the board. A second ballot question will be added to the general election for citizens of McCook, asking them to vote for candidates for a two year term. The proposed filing deadline for the seat is 4 p.m., on Aug. 31.

The person elected in the November general election will serve out the remaining two years of Reitz's four year term.

The council will also be asked to receive and file a report on negotiations for an engineering contract for the proposed water treatment facility and schedule a special council meeting on Aug. 30 to consider the contract.

Two major questions are still under consideration. The first, whether or not the state and federal agencies will require full plans and specification to be completed by Oct. 31, should be resolved after a meeting with the state and federal staff on Aug. 24.

The second, the amount of compensation to be paid to the firms, should also be decided by the 30th, according to the city council packet.

A public hearing will also be conducted to discuss a change in the rate charged for non-elderly and non-handicapped individuals using McCook Public Transit.

The issue came up after a letter arrived from Jerry L. Wray, transit liason manager for the Rail and Public Transportation Division of the Federal Transportation Administration, indicating the city cannot charge different rates for different groups.

"The bottom line is that you can't have a higher fee for the general public than you have for the elderly and/or disabled population. You must have equal fares for everyone.

The council will be asked to begin charging $1 for all individuals.