City of McCook is answer to many questions

Dear Editor,

Thank you to Robert Tigner for the letter in the Sept. 30 Gazette with his pertinent questions about the ballfields and bond issue, slated for the Nov. 8 election.

The City of McCook is the answer to most of the questions and additionally, city staff can answer any additional questions.

If a new sports complex is built northwest of McCook, the owner will ultimately be the city of McCook. The city will be the owner of the land the complex sits upon as well as the owner of the entire complex.

It is a different answer if the funds cannot be raised to build the entire complex and the sales tax dollars are instead used to upgrade the current Jaycee Complex. Then, the city continues to maintain the ballfields but the land upon which the complex sits remains owned by Red Willow County.

Regardless of the final decision, the City of McCook will continue to maintain ballfields for the community.

Another issue brought up was the condition of the fields and its current maintenance, which were referred to as poor. This is very relevant to the situation and why passage of the bond issue is so needed.

When the Jaycee Complex was built in 1973-74, there was no high school softball team and McCook Community College did not yet have a baseball or softball team. The fields were used for a few months during the summer, allowing time for the grass to recover and for maintenance to be performed.

Now, the fields are in use from February to November. There is little time for maintenance, the fields are getting over-used. To put it simply, it is hard to perform maintenance at high level when there is almost always someone using the fields and an even greater number of people using those fields.

Whether upgraded facilities at the Jaycee Complex or a new sports complex, the funds from the bond issue will be used to make a ball complex both users of the facility and the community will be proud of.

The final question asked by Mr. Tigner was about a memo of understanding (MOU) between all the entities involved. There already is an agreement between the city and county for lease of the land for the Jaycee Complex with both entities in contact with each other about the project.

Like many complex projects, there is a MOU being worked on right now for the ballpark project, which includes the City of McCook, McCook Community College which will serve as the fiscal agent for donations, and the Benjamins, donors of the potential property northwest of McCook.

There is no doubt that this is a large project, involving a lot of money, a lot of questions, and a lot of moving parts. But that is what is so great about this project: it has brought together so many organizations in the community to make it happen.

This is the most diverse group of people and organizations to work together on a project:

the City of McCook, McCook Community College, Community Hospital, McCook Community Foundation Fund, McCook Pool Committee, Legion Baseball Program, McCook Public Schools, the Benjamins, and many McCook and Red Willow County citizens.

The project also includes an interlocal agreement between the City of McCook and McCook Schools for the bond issue.

Hopefully, this answers many questions, but the City of McCook staff is always willing to answer questions about the bond issue. And the McCook on the Move committee loves to provide information about recreational projects and will sit down for a cup of coffee for an honest, thoughtful discussion. Because on Nov. 8., we want McCook voters to vote “yes” for opportunities for our businesses, for our families and most importantly, for our youth.

Jon Olsen

Baseball Coach

Athletic Director

McCook Community College