Informational meetings planned on jail, public safety center

Red Willow County-City of McCook jail committee members finalized plans Tuesday for community meetings during which they will explain to voters the $7.7 million county jail-city public safety center proposal that will be on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The facility would include a county jail and sheriff's office and a city police department and fire station. An architect has drawn plans for the facility on the 2 3/4 acres at the West Q location of the McCook Public Schools' bus barn. School board members decided in August that the school district would sell the land to the county (for the price of the construction of a new bus barn facility near the junior/senior high schools) if the bond election is successful and the jail committee's preferred choice for a location -- the former West Ward elementary school on West Fourth -- is not available.

Ballots will ask voters in McCook whether or not to approve bonds to finance the city portion of the project -- $2,555,000, which includes $55,000 for the bonding agent -- and the county portion of the project -- $5,110,000, which includes $110,000 for the bonding agent. County residents living outside McCook will be asked whether or not to approve bonds on the county portion of the project, the $5,110,000.

The city will not be obligated to go forward with its portion of the joint facility if its ballot question succeeds and the county's fails. The county plans to proceed with its portion of the project, with a redesigned facility, if its ballot question succeeds but the city's does not.

City and county jail committee members will explain the joint facility at three community information meetings in McCook: Thursday, Oct. 12; Wednesday, Oct. 18; and Thursday, Oct. 26. Each meeting will begin at 7 p.m., at the Heritage Senior Center, 1400 W. Fifth.

County representatives on the jail committee will explain the county side of the ballot issue at meetings outside of McCook following this schedule:

* Tuesday, Oct. 17, Danbury, 7 p.m., Danbury Community Center.

* Thursday, Oct. 19, Indianola, 7 p.m., Indianola Community Building.

* Tuesday, Oct. 24, Bartley, 7 p.m., Bartley Community Center.

* Wednesday, Nov. 1, Lebanon, 7 p.m., Lebanon Legion Hall.

McCook Fire Chief Marc Harpham told fellow committee members that he is still concerned that response times would increase from the West Q location and that traffic around McCook Elementary could cause bottlenecks, particularly at times when the school day starts and ends.

Engineer Greg Wolford of W Design told Harpham in a memo dated Sept. 20 that the location of the public safety center on West Q would require McCook to complete some street upgrades and change parking arrangements on ambulance and fire routes.

Wolford cites these concerns:

* Most ambulance calls would be routed through the intersection of West Fifth and J, Wolford said, recommending the addition of a "preemptive" traffic light, a traffic signal that firefighters and/or ambulance drivers can control as they approach the intersection.

Improvements there could also include repaving, some widening, lights, handicap ramps, painting, pavement sensors and the elimination of parking on the east side of West Fifth from J to K Street. Wolford estimates the cost of all these improvements at $185,000.

* Wolford recommends a right turn lane at West J and Norris Avenue, to provide room for emergency vehicles to turn right and to allow room for traffic to move out of the way of emergency vehicles. He estimates costs at that intersection to be $39,500.

* The south-bound lane of Norris Avenue from J to H poses problems, Wolford said, explaining that with an island on one side and on-street parallel parking on the other, emergency vehicles have no place to avoid traffic. The lowest-cost solution is to eliminate parking on the west side of Norris Avenue for these two blocks, at a cost of $800 for signage, Wolford said. "The only other solution is the elimination of the islands to provide sufficient street width," he writes.

* Routes west on Q Street would need little physical improvements, although Wolford recommends the elimination of parking on the west side of West 10th from M to J.

* West O as a route to northeast McCook is also viable without many physical improvements, Wolford writes, although parking on the south side of West O will need to be restricted from West Fifth to West Third if this becomes a common emergency route.

* Wolford writes that using West O to northeast McCook causes emergency vehicles to backtrack for two blocks when school is not in session and seven blocks during school hours. The best solution to that problem would be for emergency vehicles to travel east to West Third and then north to a new northern arterial connector from West Third to East 11th. This new road has been included n McCook's long-range plan for many years and is estimated to cost $1.277 million.

* If the West Q facility becomes a reality, Wolford recommends that the city move up its long-range plan of reconstruction with concrete of H and J Streets all the way through town at a cost of about $500,000.

Wolford summarizes: "If the new public safety center bond passes, the city needs to reprogram for a minimum of $227,000 in street improvements to provide safe routes and a reasonable response time for emergency vehicles. Even with these improvements, response times will likely suffer due to the orientation of McCook's streets.

However, looking at the long-term emergency services outlook for McCook and the optimal layout of streets with a West Q Street Public Safety Center, McCook should consider an additional $1.277 million in new construction and an accelerated reconstruction expenditure of $500,000."