After a fortnight's absence I sat in on a McCook City Council meeting this week. I was just in time to watch us, we the people, buy the city block including the old West Ward School. The final negotiated price will be in the neighborhood of $75,000 and is probably a reasonable deal. It was a mite frustrating though knowing that the seller doubled his money after holding it for only about four years.

The really sad part of the whole West Ward deal is that after declaring the building excess to school needs and failing to initially find a buyer the property was offered to our City Manager for $1.

Yes that is one dollar. I was on the City Council at the time and never heard of the offer until it had long been refused and another buyer found.

So "we" the city fathers have been consistent in refusing another property just as "we" did when offered the McCook Army Air Base for one dollar years ago. That deal only took about 40 years before another City Council saw a need and bought it back for a whole lot more money. I have no idea what the city has in mind for their new square city block property so I can only pray that the whole West Ward deal ends up better than the airbase went down. The city only lost about a million bucks on that one. My friend Don Klein summed it up years ago when he told me that McCook simply doesn't know how to dream!

This coming summer the next segment of West J Street is scheduled to be paved. The improvement is sorely needed and will be worth the frustration that will accompany the reconstruction. Kyle Potthoff noted that there are 22 residences along the construction route that have no alley and so their only outside access is J street. So when the street is closed for construction those residents will have to park blocks away from where they sleep. Services such as garbage collection will have to be wheeled out down the sidewalk, Kyle volunteered the city employees for that job, to a place where a truck can have access. I am sure that the residents affected and the good city employees will make it all work and the project will be a success in the end but it smacks of poor planning when the project was platted in the first place.

The problem of fixing J Street reminded me again of a whole housing project that our former City Manager was trying to force to be planned with again no alley access.

In fact the manager had so many other equally impractical "good" ideas that the developer finally gave up and the project will never be built.

Maybe the problem is not so much a lack of a dream as a bureaucracy that stifles the best efforts to attain that dream. Despite the best efforts of the nay-sayers over the years McCook has made commendable progress on several enterprises. I see successful projects such as the Kiplinger Roping Arena, the dynamic Red Willow County Fairgrounds, the YMCA and the original Senior Center, all projects that if you scratch a little you can see the handiwork of Don Klein.

Barnett Park, the city dump when I was in high school, is a great addition to the city thanks to the dreams and efforts of Jack Lytle.

Kelley Park, currently a pleasant and well used area, was pretty much an eyesore in the city's early years until Mr. Bolles' trees grew up to provide shade and the city officials saw some potential. I wonder what the city's dream is for West Ward and I hope it comes to fruition.

It has been quite a spectacle so far watching the current presidential race. Tuesday is the final day to file income taxes. I don't know about you but the tax bite was a little tough for me this year. For sure, I will remember the pain in November when we will have a chance to choose either a tax and spend candidate or hopefully one who will be a little more prudent. Actually, my dad had the best idea. He thought that there should be no income tax withholding and that all taxes should have to be paid the day before general election.

That way, the pain of paying taxes would be fresh in every voter's mind when he went into the booth to vote and hopefully better choices would be made for those we elect to spend our hard earned tax money. We can only dream!

That is the way I see it.