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Discussion and Plans in the Works for Community Center in Dell Rapids

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**Check out this week’s (March 13th, 2021) Dells City Journal for more details on this story**

Dell Rapids continues to grow and flourish with population, new businesses and so much more. Something that has been missing from our town is a community center for all to enjoy. From basketball and volleyball tournaments to batting cages or the simplicity of safe walking in winter months, the possibilities are endless.

At a recent City Council meeting, discussion was brought to the table by a group of residents ready to help make a community center a reality for Dell Rapids. Lee Bollock addressed the Council with introduction of the plans for the future community center. Bollock, along with his wife Brittani, have lived in Dell Rapids for seven years and are active in the community being on the Connections Charitable Board and Lee is an active member of the Dell Rapids School Board.  “Since we have lived here, and talking with others that have lived here, this has been a topic of conversation ongoing for at least the past decade if not longer,” Bollock expressed to the Council. “Maybe part of the reason this has never come to fruition is that we haven’t had the community backing it enough and being active in the process. That is what our committee intends to do, work with City Council and the community to drive this thing home.”

The Dells City Journal will continue to follow the process of the project. To show your support for the community center, reach out to your Alderman for your designated ward or express your support at upcoming council meetings. With community support, this plan can become a reality. “The more engagement and the more push we have from the public, the more successful we will be,” Bollock concluded.

Final Sales Tax Numbers Show 10% Increase in 2020 for Dell Rapids

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The Dell Rapids City Council heard the final 2020 sales tax numbers during their regular meeting on Monday, February 1st.  The December 2020 numbers were 22% higher than December 2019.

Total sales tax collected in December was $120,207.00.  With that number, every month but February and March saw over $100,000 in sales tax revenues for the city.

“Just taking into factor the affect the pandemic had and how it was kind of the opposite affect that was expected when we first got into the thing,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland.

The total sales tax revenue for Dell Rapids in 2020 was $1,362,405.82.  That is a 10.1% increase from 2019, which had $1,237,139.75 in total sales tax revenue.

Sales tax revenue was not the only increase the city of Dell Rapids saw.  Alcohol sales were up 20% from 2019.

Dell Rapids Water/Sewer Bill Could Increase

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The water/sewer bill in Dell Rapids looks to be heading for an increase in the near future.  The Dell Rapids City Council, during the last regular meeting on Tuesday, January 19th, approved the first readings of Ordinances 890, 891, and 892 which are related to surcharges and rate adjustments to cover costs for the 6th Street Water Project that is planned to being this spring.

Ordinance 890 is a Waste Water Surcharge.  This ordinance will implement a surcharge of $5.85 per customer.

Ordinance 891 is a Waste Water Rate Adjustment.  This ordinance will change the base rate charge as well as the per 1,000 gallon rate.  Currently the base rate is $16.90, and this ordinance will lower that base rate to $16.00.  The current per 1,000 gallon rate is $5.78.  The ordinance will lower that rate to $4.82.

For an average 5,000 gallon user, the cost would change from the current $61.60 to $61.75, a 0.2% increase.  These values include the base rate, per 1,000 gallon rate, and existing and new surcharges.

Ordinance 892 will be implementing a $2.70 per customer to fund the drinking. water bond for the 6th Street project.

With the three new proposed ordinances and the water and sewer rates  are added together, for an average 5,000 gallon user, the current cost of $103.80 will increase to $106.65, which is an increase of 2.7%.

“I think it’s important to let our citizens know that we appreciate their support in the fact that through paying their water and sewer bills, they are making it possible for us to do these improvements,” said Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley.

The second reading of the ordinances will be held on the first council meeting in February on Monday, February 1st.  If the ordinances pass the second reading, they will take effect on April 20th, and customers will see it on their May 1st bill.  The new charges would be assessed for water/sewer usage for March 20th through April 20th.

Building Permit Valuations up in 2020 for Dell Rapids

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The final numbers for building permits in 2020 for the City of Dell Rapids were presented to the Dell Rapids City Council during their last regular meeting.  The numbers for 2020 surpassed the numbers from 2019.

The total valuation for 2020 was $7,238,823.  That was a big increase from 2019, which saw a valuation of just over $4 million.  There were 10 new homes built in 2020, one new four-plex, and one new two-plex.  There were 12 new homes built in 2019 and 17 new homes in 2018.

Dell Rapids did not have any large scale commercial projects in 2020, but the Dell Rapids public school had over $2.5 million improvements done to the inside of the building.

“We’re looking good going into 2021.  In the last year there was the acquisition of property north of 15th street, so you know we’ve got future residential multi-family and single-family homes that will be slated for building in the future,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland during the council meeting.

City of Dell Rapids Sets Sales Tax Income Record

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Even though the 2020 year has yet to come to an end, the city of Dell Rapids has already set a record for sales tax revenue during the year.  The latest sales tax revenue figures through the end of November were reported at the Dell Rapids City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, December 21st.

“We had a little dip in November, not too bad though,” said Justin Weiland.  The month of November showed a sales tax revenue of just under $105,000, which is down 2.74% compared to November 2019.  However, the total for 2020 is just over $1.24 million which is still up 9.1% when compared to the same time frame in 2019.

“Hopefully December’s comes in strong, and we can be between 8-10% category for the year increase which is far in excess of the 30% loss we were talking about when COVID hit.  The state was telling us to prepare for,” added Weiland.

The total of $1,242,135.82 collected so far in 2020 already surpasses the total collected for all of 2019 and is the highest amount ever collected in Dell Rapids.

Dell Rapids Mask Mandate Ordinance Receives No Motion after First Reading

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The Dell Rapids City Council held a first reading of a new mask mandate ordinance during their regular meeting on Monday, December 5th.  The ordinance died due to a lack of motion.

City Administrator Justin Weiland said, “The city had been approached by many members of the community, businesses, as well as council members that thought we needed to have this discussion this evening,” in his opening remarks on the ordinance discussion.  He also noted that the suggested ordinance did not have an enforcement attached to it and was very similar to the mandate Sioux Falls passed.

“Overall I think the people in this community are smart enough to social distance the best they can.  They have a choice to go into a business that is enforcing the rules or not enforcing the rules.  You have a choice to not go into a business if you don’t like the way the are running it.  I just look at this as dividing our community,” said councilman Mark Crisp.  He also said, “The educational part of this, Justin that you have recommended, that’s what I believe we need to do more of.  We get more things done in this community when working together.”

Councilman Chad Ronshaugen said, “In general I’m not for putting in laws that are not enforceable.  That’s a really tough thing for me.  I’ve thought a lot about this as well, and I’ve viewed it more as an act of leadership, along the lines of the education to say that as leaders of our community, here’s the best practice and here’s how we would lay it out.”

After a discussion among the council members, the topic was open for public input.  Dan Ahlers, President of the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce, shared information on a recent survey the chamber conducted about the mask ordinance that indicated 72% of those who responded to the survey would be in favor of the mask ordinance along with the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce.  Several community members spoke in opposition of the ordinance, however, a few of those opposed to the ordinance were in favor of the council supporting more educational options.

The council members took no action on the ordinance after hearing the public’s input on the matter.

The full video archive of the meeting can be found in the embedded page, along with full meeting minutes.

Economy Continues to Stay Strong in Dell Rapids

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The economy in Dell Rapids has continued to be strong through the 2020 year.  Justin Weiland, Dell Rapids City Administrator, reported another increase in sales tax revenues for the month of July during the Dell Rapids City Council’s last meeting on Monday, August 17th.

The month of July saw a 19.36% increase in 2020 from 2019.  It was the fourth straight month, and fifth overall, of sales tax revenue having an increase this year from last year.

“We’re continuing to see those numbers stay steady.  August…we’ll see how August comes in, but doesn’t seem like anything’s going to change on that front,” said Weiland.

Through the month of July of 2020, the city has seen a 10.72% increase in revenue versus the same time period from last year, which is an increase of just over $76,000.

Sales Tax Revenue Continues to Rise in Dell Rapids in 2020

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Dell Rapids reported a 2.1% increase in sales tax revenue through the month of May in 2020 when compared to the same time period in 2019, but the month of June provided an even bigger boost to the City of Dell Rapids.

“We are showing a 9.2% increase total for the year of 2020 compared to six months in as of June 2019.  The months of April, May, and June have all been exceedingly higher than normal,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland at the last Dell Rapids City Council meeting.

The month of June saw almost a 30% increase compared to the month of June in 2019.  Sales tax revenue in the month totaled $124,396.22.  That is the highest collected amount since the months of July and August of 2017.  It was also the third straight month of over $100,000 in collected sales tax and fourth month overall in 2020.

The city has collected just over $55,000 more in the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019.

Sales Tax Up in Dell Rapids Despite Covid-19 Restrictions

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Despite the restrictions that were placed on businesses in March and April due to Covid-19, sales tax revue for the city of Dell Rapids is up 2.1% through May when compared to the same time frame as 2019.

Dell Rapids saw a 7.7% increase over 2019 in the month of January, but then saw decreases in sales tax revenue in the months of February and March.  Revenue was down 13.6% in February and 1% in March.

“We saw very large increases in April and May, which was surprising, but not surprising I guess when you kind of boil it down and think about it,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland.  “People were staying home.  They weren’t going to Sioux Falls to purchase their groceries.  They were staying here.  People in our region from Baltic to everyone else in the region that didn’t want to go into the heart of the lion’s den in Sioux Falls, and they have been coming to Dell Rapids.”

The months of April and May were very good in Dell Rapids.  There was an increase of 12.8% in April from 2019 and 20.8% in May.

“There was a definite fear that there was going to be a major fallout.  At this point, let’s hope and keep praying that it’s going  to continue this way,” said Weiland.

The city is currently about $26,500 ahead of where it was through the end of May in 2019.

Weiland mentioned that the city will continue to keep a conservative estimate in mind with the 2021 budget and with spending for the rest of the year as well.

Less Restrictions on Businesses in Dell Rapids

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As of Monday, May 4th, businesses in Dell Rapids have been able to operate with less restrictions. The Dell Rapids City Council passed the second reading of Ordinance 878, which loosens the restrictions placed on businesses by Ordinance 876.

The biggest change with the new ordinance is the number of patrons the businesses can have.  With Ordinance 876 businesses could only allow up to 10 patrons at a time, but Ordinance 878 will allow up to 50% of the maximum occupancy as determined by the City of Dell Rapids building or fie codes, whichever is greater.  Businesses should also attempt to establish a minimum six-foot distance between any tables, chairs, or booths.  That distance does not need to be followed by members of the same household.

City-owned property still remains closed until further notice by the Mayor.  Those properties include City Hall, Dell Rapids Carnegie Library, the swimming pool, public bathrooms, and ball fields to organized groups or teams.  The Mayor did open up the playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis courts, and ball fields to non organized groups and teams on Friday, May 1st.

Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley did state the churches were not tied to this city ordinance and could operate as they wished.

Mayor Earley also said during the council meeting, “My concern and my worry is as things start to loosen up somewhat and less restrictions that people don’t interpret that to mean the virus not as deadly as it used to be.  No matter what we do, it doesn’t change anything about this virus.  The virus is still the same.  I think most people by now will realize that.  The purpose here is to work with our businesses and as long as we maintain communication with them, what we expect, etc, I’m sure all of them are willing.  Besides their businesses being at stake, they want to do the right thing.  They don’t want to do anything that’s gonna screw up their businesses.”

Full Text of Ordinance 878

Dell Rapids Ordinance 878

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