Library, dispatching commended by council

McCOOK, Neb. — As a popular meme put it, libraries are one of the few public spaces left in society where you’re allowed to exist without the expectation of spending money.

The McCook City Council approved two proclamations Monday night, one designating the week of April 3 - 9, 2022 as “National Library Week” and another designating the week of April 10 through 16, 2022, as “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.”

For Library Week, activities planned this week at the McCook City Library included making bookmarks and “Game Boards Galore” on Wednesday, said McCook Library Director, Jody Crocker.

Crocker was cited as an invaluable asset in a letter sent to city staff by Denise Harders, director of the Central Plains Library System. In the letter Mayor Mike Gonzales read, Harders said she leans heavily on Crocker for help and that she’s a favorite at workshops. “When it is time to plan the upcoming summer reading program, Jody is the first presenter who comes to mind,” Harders wrote, with people as far away as Scottsbluff, Neb., wanting to attend sessions specifically to hear Crocker’s presentations. In addition, Crocker’s service on the Central Plains Library Systems’ governing board is indispensable, Harders wrote.

Indispensable and behind the scenes is how City of McCook Chief of Police Joel Smith described the police department’s dispatching team.

The people who do this job are very important and possess a unique set of skills, Smith said, such as multitasking and critical thinking on the fly. It’s a difficult job with 12-hour shifts, he said, and is just as important a role as police officers. “We’re very lucky to have the people we have now,” Smith said, adding that police officers spend some time at dispatching to see how it works.

Dispatchers complete a training program and are hired on a six-month probationary period. Technology has dramatically changed the kind of equipment used, Smith said. He told the city council that one dispatcher he hired was a former dispatcher, who was shocked at how much the equipment had transformed.

Smith also told the council that the new radio console dispatching equipment is here but there have been delays in the connection to the statewide system. Once that is resolved, the equipment will be put to full use.

At the end of the regular meeting Monday, the city council re-convened in two closed, executive sessions, with no action taken after those sessions. The first was a strategy session concerning litigation, a communication of notice of appeal from SBA Towers IV, LLC, of the special exception the city granted to Parallel Infrastructure for a telecommunications tower. The second was another strategy session concerning litigation, the City of McCook vs. Sarah L. Wederski.