Snow removal poor

Dear Editor,

For the sake of anyone that may be offended by the following opinion, please do not take what I am about to say personal, as it is addressed at those persons who do not have to do the work, let alone work on a weekend or Holiday, all they have to do is lead.

I have been a McCook resident for about 14 years, and cannot find a lot to complain about the community or other residents of McCook.

I have, however, developed a very strong opinion regarding the leadership of McCook, and now the response that I observed by our City Street Department to our recent severe winter storm.

Every job has its ups and downs. In the case of our City's Street Department, it is the possibility of being assigned to work on a Sunday, or a holiday, or even overnight, not because you want to, but because you have to. For the purpose of this opinion, you should have, so that others may have enjoyed safe passage.

While driving home from work on Sunday morning I was appalled by the fact that there was no effort whatsoever to clear our emergency routes by the local "Tax-payer Contracted" Street Department. However, I did notice that privately contracted employees were hard at work at 6 a.m. and obviously had been for some time, judging by the amount of work that had been done on our local business parking lots and sidewalks.

I did not see a single plow on the ground until approximately 7:20 a.m., and I even noticed a NDOR plow drive down B Street without batting an eye about not dropping the plow, what terrible empathy for the citizens of McCook.

Not only does the lack of response affect those who had to go to work Sunday morning, but it allowed for a 2-4 inch sheet of ice to be formed beneath the tracks of those unfortunate tax-paying citizens that had the endure the treachery, which I might add, will be with us for several days if not a week or better.

I can recall a time that during severe winter weather you would not be surprised to see city workers out all night working to clear our city's streets, and again, not because it was what they wanted to do, or enjoyed, but because it was what they had to do to make McCook a better place to live.

I cannot express enough how disappointed I was by the lack of response to what could be considered one of the worst winter storms in a decade, and certainly hope that in the near future our city's leaders can formulate an acceptable plan to improve their response time. I for one sincerely believe in an Emergency Severe Weather Warning Plan that could possibly entail the unfortunate task of assigning all night clean-up crews. (Yes-even on a weekend or holiday)

What kind of confidence can a community have in their leadership when a task as simple as clearing the public streets can not be tackled?

Craig A. Carner,

McCook