Citizens raise concerns over ordinances, street repairs

McCOOK, Neb. — A McCook citizen questioned a city ordinance that requires property owners to pay a fee for a home security system.

At the McCook City Council meeting Monday night, Dave Gerih called the city’s annual $50 fee assessed to homeowners who have a third-party security system, wrong and outdated. “It’s about as socialist as you can get,” he said, comparing it to “Obamacare,” the national health care program officially known as the Affordable Care Act. Gerih said he was unaware of the fee until city police came to his home because the alarm was activated. He indicated that he has asked around, trying to find out how much was collected annually in fees and where those funds were going, to no avail.

After he spoke, Mayor Mike Gonzales said the council would look into it and a person from city staff would be in contact with Gerih.

McCook City Police Chief Ike Brown said after the council meeting that a long-time city ordinance requires that homeowners must register with the city when they install third-party security systems, systems that notify the police when an alarm is activated. Fees vary according to the system installed, Brown said, with some homeowners unaware of the fee and registration.”Sometimes there’s conflict when companies who sell the alarms don’t make people aware that there is an ordinance and then people are surprised,” he said.

The registration information is important to have, he said, as it helps when responding to an alarm. “It’s more than just police showing up, but who do we call if no one is home,” he said. Responding to alarms translates into time and money, he added, with at least two officers dispatched to calls because “you never know what might be going on.” There are also false alarms that law enforcement must respond to, he said.

Brown said he is a “great fan of alarm systems,” noting that no business in the city that has installed one has been successfully broken into. “I absolutely believe in them...they’re a great way to protect your property and life.”

Another McCook citizen, Scott Felker, also spoke to the city council Monday night, relaying his concerns about the condition of some city streets. Specifically, he cited the end of Missouri Avenue, that has broken bits of concrete and rocks, the 700 block of West Second, where there is a bump in the street, M and West Fifth, with an area that needs to be patched, and Auditorium Drive and West Seventh, where there is a pothole. He also spoke on the difficulty of turning from West Fourth onto B Street, as a business building blocks vision from traffic on the east.

Kyle Potthoff, Public Works Director, responded to Felker’s concerns on the streets, saying that he is aware of those areas mentioned and that they are being looked at by his department for repair or are already scheduled for repair.

Felker also wanted clarification as to when the grass clipping containers homeowners can rent from the city have to be placed on the street for pick-up, with Potthoff answering 7 a.m. In response to a question on paving city alleys, City Manager Nate Schneider told Felker that he can call city offices to get an explanation of the process.

After Felker spoke, City Councilman Bruce McDowell commented that the streets on the 600 to 700 block of West Third have recently been repaired and that “It looks great.”