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Two Dell Rapids City Employees Recognized

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DellRapidsTowerTwo Dell Rapids city employees were given awards during the 84 Annual South Dakota Municipals League Conference held Tuesday, October 3rd through Friday, October 6th.  This year’s conference was held at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Sioux Falls.

City of Dell Rapids Code Enforcement Officer and Building Inspector Ben Gruis was awarded the annual Jim Fjerstad Safety Award.  This award goes to only one individual in South Dakota per year.

“Ben runs our safety program for our city.  He was recognized at a luncheon in front of everyone that was in attendance at the luncheon.  He was unaware that he was going to receive the award, and his wife was there, so it was a nice moment,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland at the Dell Rapids City Council meeting on Monday, October 16th.

Public Works Director Larry Schildhauer was also recognized during the conference.  Schildhauer was inducted into South Dakota Municipal League Hall of Fame during a luncheon.  Schildhauer has provided the city with 42 years of service.

“Governor Daugaard was the keynote speaker at that luncheon, and in the middle of his speech pointed at Larry and called out Larry for being his classmate.  Said what a great guy he was and  they don’t get to hang out enough.  He commended him for his years of service, so that was pretty nice moment as well,” Weiland also said during the council meeting.

 

City Council Updates from Oct 2nd

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DellRapidsTowerThe Dell Rapids City Council met in regular session on Monday, October 2nd, at the Dell Rapids Fire Hall.  In a light agenda, the following items were discussed:

  • The Downtown Halloween Trick or Treat event permit was approved for Friday, October 27th.
  • Unpaid utility bills were approved to be sent to collections after a courtesy call was given.
  • Resolution No. 2017-12:  Minnehaha County Legislative Priorities was approved.
  • Administration updated the council that they are not ready to make a recommendation of a new website provider yet.
  • An update was given about the asphalt overlay project.  The areas that were completed were Harrison Avenue, Third Street south of the railroad tracks, two sections on Fifth and Sixth east of Iowa Avenue, and Third Street and Orleans on the truck route after the water main break.

After the meeting concluded, the council was given a tour of the fire hall.

The Dell Rapids City Council will meet again on Monday, October 16th, at 7:30 p.m.  The meeting will be at the City Chambers and can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Highway 115 Project Making Progress

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Hwy115ConstructionThe South Dakota Department of Transportation’s Highway 115 project continues to make good progress.  That was the report given to the Dell Rapids City Council during their regular meeting on Monday, September 18th.  The DOT told city officials that the interstate interchange is on schedule.

Steel for the interchange is scheduled to be delivered to the site around September 30th.  Once the steel is delivered, the plan is for the girders to being to be installed.  The DOT said that contractors plan to work diligently to complete and open the bridge by the estimated completion date of the end of October.

In the meantime, shoulder grading for the Highway 115 project has begun in city limits.  That work began this past week.  The shoulder work is currently being done on the north side of the highway from around the 4-way stop out to the interstate interchange.  This work is actually outside of the scope of the initial project plan for this time of year, but the DOT is working to get a head of schedule for when work resumes next spring.

The final piece of the report shared is the DOT currently has plans for the contractor to possibly take down the north bridge on Highway 115 leading south of town.  The bridge could potentially be removed before Christmas this year.  This again is to get ahead of plans for next spring.

 

Water Main Break in Dell Rapids

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WaterMainBreakA water main broke over the weekend of September 16th and 17th near the downtown area in Dell Rapids.  The exact location of the break was around 3rd St and Orleans Ave.  During the cleanup and investigation of the break, bad conditions to the service line seem to be the reason for the break.

City crews worked throughout the days on Sunday and Monday to repair the break in the water line.

City Administrator Justin Weiland said during the Dell Rapids City Council regular meeting on Monday, September 18th that the break was unfortunate, and it was bad timing for everybody.

During the council meeting, it was reported that an estimated 200,000 gallons of water was lost in the break.

“I want to thank the guys for working on a beautiful Sunday day to get that break done,” said Councilman James Borchert.

Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley said, “We appreciate the work that they’ve done.”

Because of the break, the Dells Theater was left without water.  It was also reported during the council meeting that there could have been troubles trying to replace the line and tie it back into what was still existing.  Arrangements were made between GoldenWest and the Dells Theater to be able to have the Dells Theater be able to tie into the new service lines that were stubbed during the 4th Street project which is now in the empty lot between GoldenWest and the theater that GoldenWest owns.

2018 City Budget Approved, But with Hesitations

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DellRapidsTowerThe Dell Rapids City Council approved the first reading of the 2018 City of Dell Rapids Budget (Ordinance 845 – 2018 Appropriations) at their regular meeting on Tuesday, September 5th.  The approval, however, was not without some hesitations and push back.

“Personally when I have a big project coming up in a year or two, I cut my spending.  I get prepared for that.  I don’t want to have to borrow the whole thing,” Councilman Mark Crisp said during the meeting referring to the city’s plans to replace infrastructure (sewer and water lines) in Dell Rapids starting in 2019.  Crisp mentioned issues with the sewer and water rates having to continue to rise to fund projects along with spending money to replace equipment he didn’t feel was needing to be replaced.

“We’re going to do the bath house, or whatever we’re calling that thing down there.  That’s probably going to happen next year now at this point.  People are going to see that.  That’s a quality of life project.  We’re going to be extending the trail.  I understand that.  That’s a quality of life,” Crisp said.

Councilman Barry Berg said, “I was going to say one of my downfalls on the budget is the (pool) slide.  Frankly the pool is not supportive of a slide the way the pool is shaped.”  Berg mentioned that he would rather see that money put towards something else right now and wait to do something more substantial at the pool to make it more worthwhile.

All the council members agreed that the dollars budgeted for a new slide and new office equipment could be removed from the budget.

The biggest contention was with the potential purchase of a new loader/grader for the city’s works department in 2018 even though the Equipment Replacement fund currently has money that can be used for the purchase.  The discussions focused on whether or not the equipment really need to be replaced right now with larger projects coming in the near future.  The city work’s department asked that the purchase of the new equipment be in the 2018 budget.

“I’d rather see that grader replaced and move the snow when we need it.  We’re doing more streets,” said councilman Gary Haak.

The council needed two motions to pass the first reading of the budget.  The original motion failed even though five of the seven council members voted in favor.  The ordinance needed a 75% approval to pass.  The second motion that passed by a 6-1 vote was to remove dollars in the budget to place a slide at the pool, remove the purchase of new office equipment at City Hall, and to remove taking money from the General Fund to place into the Equipment Replacement Fund.  Crisp was the lone nay vote.

The new equipment purchase remained in the budget, however, the council would still need to have the actual purchase of the new equipment brought to the council.  Then the council would still have to vote on actually spending those budgeted dollars on the new equipment.

 

City of Dell Rapids Receives Grant from GF&P for Trail Updates

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RecreationTrailDell Rapids has received a grant from the Game, Fish, and Parks department to be able to expand the recreational trail.  This announcement came from City Administrator Justin Weiland at the Dell Rapids City Council meeting on Monday, August 7th.

The city applied for $249,000 with the Game, Fish, and Parks Recreational Trail Grant.  The grant application included two extensions to the current trail.  One extension would run south to the overlook on Dells Drive, and the other extension would run west to the dam area.

Game, Fish, and Parks representatives said the full grant request was for nearly 100% of the grant’s available funds for the entire year.  Dell Rapids was instead awarded a $55,000 grant to be able to do the south extension project.  The estimated cost of that project is between $68,000 – $70,000.  The city will be responsible for the remaining funds needed to complete the cost.  Weiland mentioned that the city will work with the Sioux River Red Rock Trail Committee to assist with the funding for the remainder of the costs for the project and will budget for this to occur in 2018. Overlook

“I think it will get more people there to experience that, and potentially put the city in a position to make some improvements down there, or at least get it cleaned up and looking sharper,” said Weiland of the south extension.  The extension of the trail would start at Dells Drive and run to the overlook area of the Big Sioux River.

Weiland also said that since Game, Fish, and Parks couldn’t help fund the dam extension, the city sent a letter of intent to the Department of Transportation for the Transportation Alternatives Grant.  Recreational trails were added to that grant this past year.  Weiland said that the Department of Transportation will be meeting with city officials to look at the area and hear plans to potentially get that funded through this grant in the future.

Friday Service to Start for Dell Rapids Transit

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DellRapidsTowerFriday service will be starting soon for the Dell Rapids Transit.  The Dell Rapids City Council voted to add Friday service during their regular meeting on Monday, July 17th.

City Administrator Justin Weiland shared with the council that adding Friday service would cost the city an additional $5,800 annually.  Weiland also mentioned that the extra cost could potentially be lowered based on a grant package the city might receive from the 5311 grant that the city submitted, but he cautioned the council to plan for the city to pay for the full additional costs.   The additional cost for the city for 2017 would only be half of the total $5,800 by adding Friday at the start of school.

Councilman James Borchert motioned to approve adding Friday to the Dell Rapids City Transit service, and Councilman Mike Geraets seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

Bathhouse in Dell Rapids Could See Updates

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DellRapidsBathhouseCould the Gina Smith Campbell Bathhouse at City Park in Dell Rapids see preserving and restoring updates?  It could according to Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley.

Mayor Earley gave an update to the Dell Rapids City Council during their regular meeting on Monday, July 3rd, about a meeting he had with South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard and Linda Daugaard.  The Daugaards and Mayor Earley met earlier in the day on July 3rd.  It was indicated to Mayor Earley that the Duagaards have some interest in providing support to preserve and/or partially restore the bathhouse.  Some of the ideas that were reported to the council were to put together a working group to assess the building and provide some basic options that could make the facility usable again.  To help on costs of a project like this, the hope is that some of the people in the working group might be able to donate materials and do in-kind-service work on the building.  Funding for some of this type of work could come money provided by the city, monetary or work-in-kind donations from interested community members, and potentially a matching donation by Governor Daugaard.  The facility should also be eligible for grant dollars given out by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission’s Outside of Deadwood Grant Program.   Application deadlines for those grant dollars are January 2nd, 2018, and June 2nd, 2018.

The Gina Smith Campbell Bathhouse was dedicated on July 4th, 1934 after being built by the Dell Rapids Park Board and the Dell Rapids City Council in coordination with the Civil Works Administration.  The bathhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 10th, 1986.

The ideas of projects to restore and preserve the bathhouse are in the very early stages of talks.  However, there does seem to be interest in making the bathhouse usable again.

Dell Rapids Could See Additional Street Lights

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DellRapidsStreetLightThe Dell Rapids City Council received a report from City Administrator Justin Weiland that the city of Dell Rapids could see additional street lights added around town.  This report came during the council’s regular meeting on Monday, June 19th.

Weiland along with Public Works Director Larry Schildhauer met with representatives from Xcel Energy to plan for the installation of the additional street lights in a few places around town.  The new 10th street project area is one area that will receive new street lights.  Quartzite Street and Garfield Avenue in the new industrial park will also receive lights.  Weiland also mentioned that a few additional lights will be put on Zero Street near Garfield Avenue and Orleans Avenue near Rickeman Field.  There are also plans to install additional lights on Highway 77 north of the four-way stop to help with darkness in these areas.

Councilman Gary Haak asked, “The electrical company pays for that, right?”

“We have some initial costs based on what infrastructure is there.  We then pay a lease fee per light,” said Weiland.

City Administration hopes to have the lights installed yet in 2017.

Campground Expansion Continues to Move Forward

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CampgroundExpansionUpdateThe Dell Rapids City Council heard that the campground expansion and comfort station plans are moving forward and still plan to be completed in 2017 during their last regular meeting on Monday, June 5th.

City Administrator Just Weiland reported to the council that the city has received clearance from the Corp of Engineers that the area for the campground expansion (just south of Rickeman Field in the old tractor pull area) will be removed from their wetland maps.  The next step is for DGR to proceed with issuing a FEMA No-Rise Certificate for the area.  Once the city receives that analysis, they will know how to proceed with elevations for utility placements and then installation can begin.

Weiland also reported that structural plans for the new comfort station.  Administration is still waiting for the final electrical, plumbing, and mechanical plans for the new building.  Once those plans are received, the city will be able to put the project out for bid.

“We should be able to go out to bid in the next week or two,” said Weiland.

Administration is still targeting to have the campground expansion and comfort station projects completed by the fall of 2017.

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