KEARNEY, Neb. --

For the last two dozen years, Keno in Kearney has operated under the same umbrella.

Kearney Gaming was the sole provider, generating $12 million in revenue for the city's Community Betterment Projects.

"I'm proud to say during our 24 years in Kearney, we have had Keno sales in excess of $135 million," said Michael Nevrivy, the owner of Kearney Gaming who is based in Hastings.

There was a large crowd gathered at Kearney City Hall on Tuesday, where the city council was set to approve the committee’s decision of awarding the new contract to Big Red Keno, based out of Omaha.

A nine member committee made up of people from across the community were tasked with picking from one of three keno providers. They scored each proposal with a variety of factors, including financial ramifications for the city, prize money, new technology, and how much bars would make.

One woman pointing directly at Roger Jasnoch, a Kearney supporter for much of his career, who was honored earlier in the proceedings with a proclamation.

"First thing I heard tonight was how we praised Roger," said Kearney resident, Amanda Barrett. "Built up this community, did he not."

It was a similar message for many who spoke against the proposed switch to a new Keno provider. Long time residents of Kearney all speaking up against the profits being shipped out to the Omaha metro.

"I'm a big advocate of keeping our dollars local," said Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Derek Rusher. "Not in Hastings, not in Omaha. Let's keep them in Kearney."

"Those profits have left Kearney for 24 years," countered council member Kurt Schmidt. "I know I'm new to the council, but I've never heard that as a problem."

Beyond those concerns, several mentioned the issue of having to staff the keno machines, a responsibility Kearney gaming took off of their collective plate, possibly hurting Keno sales and overall business.

"When our servers are the busiest, when we have the most customers in (our restaurant or bar), the (servers) are going to be unable to write the (Keno) tickets," said Fanatics co-owner, Todd Schirmer.

"If people aren't playing as long, they aren't drinking as long, they aren't buying food," added Collin Nabity, of Kearney. "That's going to decrease sales tax revenues, that's also going to decrease restaurant tax revenue."

While there were convincing points to be made by the people who spoke at the podium, there was also the diligent work being done by the committee and all of the information they weighed heading into the evening.

"I wanted (Community First Keno) to come out with more points, but we did follow the directions very carefully," said Tami Moore, a council member who was also on the Keno committee.

"The team that had the shortest amount of time to prepare a bid, is the team who put out the best bid," said Kearney City Council vice chairman Randy Buschkoetter, who also served on the Keno committee.

In the end, the vote was unanimous, and Big Red Keno will be the new provider of Keno in Kearney beginning in August.

"When you have a process, and you have to hang your hat on the process, even though it's difficult, sometimes you have to accept the results," said council member Alex Straatmann. "Because that's the process."