We must keep moving forward

Dear Editor,

A decision was made to discontinue a water project -- a project that had merit and initial data showed promise.

Mistakes were made, emotions escalated, and the distrust exhibited on projected costs and methodology moved the council to discontinue the northern project and return to a previous path.

That path has also been clouded with the diesel plume spill situation. The continuing drought conditions and the NRD rules add more hurdles to any water project. These hurdles did not exist 10 years ago, but the recognition of the economic impact water makes to this region and this community has heightened.

The decisions that we make not only affect McCook residents, McCook businesses, and the area economy. McCook residents presented a message to the Council when they signed the petition to discontinue the engineering contracts.

Was that a message to say, we want treatment, a message to say we want more information, a message to say please don't get us into another Air Base situation, or a message to say we want the option to vote on proposals?

It was all of those and probably more. Last winter, I requested a cost analysis of the water treatment project and a project to develop a new well field after we were faced with the water storage tank "vulnerable" designation by the state. The costs and preliminary data presented assisted myself and other council members in supporting a proposal to investigate the potential of a northern well field.

It is evident that the negotiation process, communication, and project plan with area landowners and Frontier County residents was not successful.

Could the project have been salvaged? Hindsight shows the mistakes made and the lessons learned. Does this mean that the only answer is to do treatment or go south?

It means that we will investigate those other sites that appear to have potential, determine costs, and consider the positive and negative aspects of the situation. Some have said, "you have already investigated southern sites."

Yes, that data needs to be reviewed, but we do know that farming practices have changed since 1988. Treatment in my mind, and for others on the council, has to be the last resort.

Because I changed my vote, for a project that I felt was right for the city, but saw that it had broken down in process, my action has been viewed by some as "poor leadership."

Is not leadership recognizing that something is breaking down and that we have to make a correction? My compromise was to continue with drilling on the north and to investigate the south and have comparable data to use to make a data driven decision in September.

Unfortunately, road blocks continued to be placed so that this was not a feasible solution at this time. Mr. Reitz offered a motion that may have accomplished this, but it did not include discontinuing the northern contracts that was viewed by Frontier County participants as being important prior to any other action.

We did not make a 180-degree turn as was suggested on a local radio station. The concept to investigate the northern site was to provide us information if this would be a better and more cost effective solution than the southern solution. The contracts were written so that they could be stopped at any time and there would be decision points for comparing costs and data with the southern option.

At no time, did I not realize that the southern option might still be the end result, but wanted to have concrete data for a data driven decision to assure that McCook would have the best possible water solution.

What we do know is that the city needs to meet state compliance rules. What we do know is that is must be as cost efficient as possible. What we do know is that this community must come together and work together to make this community alive and vibrant and think positively about McCook's future.

I applaud former council members and leaders in their efforts to resolve this situation. I thank the engineers who have dedicated much extra time to assist in resolving issues and finding possible solutions.

I thank many of the city staff who have gone on and beyond at times to listen and try to carry out directives. This council is sincere, dedicated, and willing to do what is best for this community. We have a responsibility to keep moving forward and I pledge to give my full attention to this situation.

Jerda Garey

Mayor

City of McCook