Big Sioux Media Sports Network

Your first stop for southeast South Dakota sports!

  • Dells Auto
    ERC Top Banner Advertisement
    Dells Nursing & Rehab Top Banner Advertisement
    Rapid Fitness
    Grinde Seeds
    Absolute Business Promotions
    First National Bank Sioux Falls
    Dell Rapids Lumber Top Banner Advertisement
    Crickets Catering Top Banner Advertisement
    KTP Top Advertisement

10th Street Project Now Complete

by

10thStreetCompleteDuring the Dell Rapids City Council’s last regular meeting on Monday, June 5th, the council received the news that the 10th street project was substantially complete.  The street was opened to traffic starting on Friday, June 2nd.  The final walk-thru of the project took place on Tuesday, June 6th.

Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley said, “I think right now would be very appropriate on my part to recognize the fact that 10th street wouldn’t maybe be there if it hadn’t been for Mr. Geraets and Mr. Crisp.  We appreciate the initiative they took and the work you guys did to get it going.  It’s a very visible project in town…  They’ve done a nice job up there and it looks nice.”

The entire project included utility work, drainage, sidewalk, curb and gutter, driveway approach updates, and a new asphalt road between Orchard Hills and Iowa Ave.

With the completion of the project, the council approved a pay request from T&R Contracting on the project.

New Temporary Truck Route Approved

by

TruckRouteChangesThe Dell Rapids City Council approved a new truck route agreement with the South Dakota Department of Transportation at their last regular meeting on Monday, May 15th.  The new truck route will be put in place temporarily during the construction happening at Exit 98 (Dell Rapids interchange) of Interstate 29.

The temporary truck route will run on Garfield Ave from 4th St to Quartzite St.  Trucks will then be able to gain access to Hwy 115 from Quartzite St.

As part of the agreement, dust control will also be maintained on Garfield Ave from Centennial Place to Quartzite St.  Garfield Ave will be replaced to its current condition after the the truck use is completed.

The motion was made by Alderman Mike Geraets to accept the agreement and seconded by Alderman Gary Haak.  The motion passed.

Council Considers Changes to City Bus Rides

by

DellRapidsTowerThe Dell Rapids City Council heard a request to have the city bus operated on Fridays during their last regular meeting on Monday, May 15th.  Currently the city bus does not run on Fridays.

“The transit wanted the council to know they have been asked about it on several occasions, and they would like to approach the city about looking at Friday,” said City Administrator Justin Weiland.

Weiland added that he’d like to have conversations to make sure costs could be covered before the council made a decision on adding another day of service.  The council decided to have the Policy and Procedures Committee look at adding an extra day of operation as well as providing a different option of a bus pass instead of a punch card.

The council also held a discussion on how to increase ridership and possibly incorporate transportation for kids to the pool in some way that’s linked with purchases of pool passes.

“I would sure like to see ridership increase.  I think it’s a service that’s good for the community.  It’s good for safety.  You’ve got the children on the bus instead of crossing streets,” said Alderman Mike Geraets.

After some discussion about how to get children to the pool on a pilot program and after a withdrawn motion by Alderman James Borchert, Alderman Mark Crisp made a motion that if a pool pass is purchased, children can ride the city bus for free that live within city limits to and from swimming lessons as a pilot program.  The motion was seconded by Geraets.  The motion passed.

New Dell Rapids City Council Takes Office

by

During the last regular Dell Rapids City Council meeting held on Monday, May 1st, the new city council took office.  Mayor Earley, Alderman Bill Schmidt, Alderman Barry Berg, and Alderman Bob Mier each took an Oath of Office for their new terms with the city.

Alderman Mark Crisp was voted the President of the council.  Alderman Mike Geraets was voted the Vice President.  Mayor Earley recommended Crisp, Schmidt, and Alderman Gary Haak be appointed to the Finance and Utilities Committee.  Alderman James Borchert, Alderman Mike Sterud, and Berg were appointed to the Policy and Procedures Committee.  Geraets was appointed to the Minnehaha County Economic Development Association and Dell Rapids Economic Development Corporation.  Mier was appointed as the Dell Rapids Library Board Liason.  Sterud was appointed as the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce Board Liason.

All the appointments made by Mayor Earley were approved by the council.

Prior to the new council taking office, the previous council approved malt beverage license renewals for Dell Rapids Pizza Ranch, T&C, T&C’s Other Place, and Shopko.

CityCouncil2017

Road Construction Continues in Dell Rapids

by

DellRapidsTowerRoads continue to be updated in and around Dell Rapids this spring and summer.

10th street was just recently closed for completion.  Removals and grading work is now beginning for 10th Street.  Curb and guttering will take place in the next few weeks, and the asphalting of the street will follow.  The sidewalk install and grading of the yard behind the curb will be the last steps.  Substantial completion date for the 10th Street project has been set for June 10th.

City Administration was informed by the South Dakota Department of Transportation that the Hwy 115 bridge will be opened by May 1st.  That is also the same day that Interstate 29 overpass is scheduled to be closed for that project.  During the last regular meeting, the Dell Rapids City Council approved city administration to arrange a meeting with LG Everist, the I-29 project contractor, and the SD DOT to discuss a temporary truck route south through on Garfield Ave to Quartzite St.

Reports of Vandalism in City Park

by

VandelismInParkThe Dell Rapids City Council reported vandalism to Deputy Lowe of the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office during their regular meeting on Monday, April 3rd.  Deputy Lowe asked if there were any concerns from the council during the meeting.

“It was brought to my attention from the girls scouts that in city park that someone defecated on the slides on top and there is quite a bit of graffiti,” said city councilman Barry Berg.

It was noted that some of the vandalism happened the weekend of April 1st and April 2nd.  The city’s public works department cleaned the slides on Monday, April 3rd.  The girls scouts have plans to attend the next council meeting on Monday, April 17th, to present an idea to the council of cleaning up the graffiti in the caboose.

It was also asked of Deputy Lowe if there were other reports of break-ins other than a recent garage break-in in Dell Rapids, but Deputy Lowe reported back that there hasn’t been a string of break-ins since late December to early January which were a couple of storage sheds. 

Even though Deputy Lowe reported there hasn’t been a string of break-in reports, there have been other issues of vandalism and theft in the past few weeks. Alliecat Creations in downtown Dell Rapids had windows broken out on March 18th, and there are posts on Facebook of a recent theft of a canoe.

Resolution for New Street Tabled

by

DellRapidsTowerA decision to approve Resolution 2017-04 for street improvements to Garfield Ave from Centennial Pl to Quartzite St and then south of Quartzite St 800′ was tabled during the Dell Rapids City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, March 20th.  Several affected property owners spoke out on the resolution during the meeting.  The common theme among the affected property owners was that the assessed value of the project was too high without an increased value to their properties.

The total estimated cost of this project is $399,400, but the project could be broken up into two parts.  The estimated cost of street improvements of Garfield Ave from Centennial Pl to Quartzite St is $247,000.  The estimated cost of the street improvements from Quartzite St south an additional 800′ is $152,400.  The discussions on the resolution between the council and property owners lasted nearly two hours and two amended motions failed votes before the decision to table the item until next meeting was passed.

Councilman James Borchert made a motion to remove the 800′ portion of the project from the resolution and to exclude two property owners from assessment, but the amended motion failed by a vote of 2-4.  Councilman Mike Geraets made a motion to remove the 800′ portion of the project from the resolution, but to included all impacted property owners of the remaining portion of the project in the assessment, but Geraets’ amended motion also failed by a 2-4 vote.

The council ultimately decided to table the discussions until the next meeting, which will be held on Monday, April 3rd.

 

Dell Rapids City Council Now at Full Strength

by

BobMier2017CouncilAfter about three and a half months of having a vacant seat for Ward 4, the Dell Rapids City Council is now back to a full council with all seats filled.  The Ward 4 seat had been left vacant since November 21st when Mary Klockman resigned from the position.  Robert Mier was sworn in as the replacement in Ward 4 as no other petitions were filed for the open spot.

It was also determined that no election will be needed for any of the appointed seats that were filled over the last year.  Petitions for City of Dell Rapids Mayor and seats in Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 4 were received at the city office, and only one person submitted a petition for each open spot.

Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley submitted the only petition for the mayor position.  Earley will continue to serve as the city’s mayor until 2021.  Bill Schmidt submitted the only petition for Ward 1, and Schmidt will continue to serve as Alderman for Ward 1 until 2018.  Barry Berg submitted the only petition for Ward 2, and Berg will continue to serve as Alderman for Ward 2 until 2018.  Mier will also serve until 2018.

Current Dell Rapids City Council:

  • Mayor – Tom Earley (2021)
  • Ward 1 – Gary Haak (2019); Bill Schmidt (2018)
  • Ward 2 – Mark Crisp (2019); Barry Berg (2018)
  • Ward 3 – Mike Geraets (2019); Mike Sterud (2018)
  • Ward 4 – James Borchert (2019); Robert Mier (2018)

City Council Update from Feb 6th Meeting

by

DellRapidsTowerThe Dell Rapids City Council held their last regular meeting on Monday, February 6th.  During the meeting, the following items were decided upon:

  • Ordinance 844;  Animal Ordinance Amendment Allowing Chicken and Fowl had its second reading and was approved unanimously.
  • The council approved the request from Norby’s to replace the carpet in both sides of Norby’s.  The city owns the property that Norby’s operates its business.  The motion carried.
  • The council approved the contract for the Wastewater Treatment Facility – Sequence Batch Reactor – to KHC Construction.  The amount of the contract is $4,094,000, which was under the estimate of $4.8 million.  The motion carried.
  • The council also approved entering into an agreement with Keith Stroh to put together structural engineered plans for the new comfort station.  The agreement will cost the city $12,500.  The motion carried by a 6-1 vote.
  • A report was given that DGR is in the process of getting plans together for the campground utilities installation.  An issue that was discovered at the end of 2016 was the existence of a designated wetland in the center of the property.  Mitigation of the wetland will have to happen prior to making any improvements.  DGR has made the necessary contacts to begin this process, but will come at a cost of $1,200.

Dell Rapids Campground Reservation Changes

by

dellrapidscampgroundReservations for the Dell Rapids campground will be handled in a new way starting in 2017.  The Dell Rapids City Council approved the booking of campsites through an online service called Camp Native.  This is a South Dakota based company.  They currently serve reservations for about 12,000 campgrounds on their website.  The website to register is www.campnative.com.

City Administrator Justin Weiland said, “We’ve been thinking about this for several years and have done quite a bit of research…what the best method of doing this, what other campgrounds do.  We do get this request about making it more convenient.”

Sites can still be reserved between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at City Hall for those who may not have online access in which city administration can log onto the website and make the reservation through the website.  One big change will be the removal of the self-registration by placing a payment in the campground’s dropbox.  For those that enter the campground outside of city hours and don’t preregister either online or through City Hall, they will need to register online instead of using the dropbox.  The city is planning to have free Wi-Fi available at the campground by the time it opens for the season to offset this change.

It was reported during the meeting that the majority of the weekends are usually filled by preregistrations in advance of the weekend, especially the big camping weekends.  Moving to the website will allow people to now see what’s available real-time for open camping spots rather than having to contact City Hall.

The nightly rate for the campground was also raised from $15.00 to $18.00 by the City Council.  The cancellation policy of No Cancellations was also amended during the meeting.  That policy was removed and replaced with Camp Native’s cancellation policy that allows for any cancellations up to two weeks prior to the stay and a one-night penalty within the two week period.  All the cancellations will be handled by the Camp Native website.

Other changes happening to the Dell Rapids Campground in 2017 are plans to construct a comfort station/bath house near Rickeman Field and also expand the campground to the former tractor pull area.

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy