City Council - Regular Meeting

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Karen, please take the roll.

Mayor Jones.

Here.

Keel.

Here.

Carlson. Here. Horacek.

Here.

Madsen. Here. Schilling. Yes. And Bowen is absent with notice.

All right, do we have any action on the agenda for tonight's meeting?

Motion to approve the agenda as presented. I'll second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson? Yes. Mattson? Yes. Keel? Yes. Horace? Yes. Schilling?

Yes.

How about the minutes from the 8-17-2026 budget meeting? Motion to approve the budget meeting minutes from 8-17. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Schilling.

Yes.

Horacek. Yes. Keel. Yes. Matson.

Yes.

Carlson. Yes. Sorry.

That's all right.

Slipped there for a second. Okay. Slipped the gear. How about for the minutes from the 818 regular meeting?

Motion to approve regular city council meeting minutes for 818. Second.

All right. I think everybody got in there. That's good. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson? Yes. Mattson? Yes. Keel? Yes. Horacek? Yes. Schilling?

Yes.

Everybody here is for some other reason, not for the public comment. We'll move down to visitors. First up, we have Melissa, is it Farky? Farky. Melissa is our 2026 Park and Rec Director. I don't know if you guys got a chance to meet her, but I ran into her one day down here. Remember, you were down here getting supplies or something.

Yep, I think I was. I brought you guys a little present. I'm also a teacher, so this is second nature. I should have just handed one hand and passed it down. Oh, that's fine.

Trees are renewable resources. You're my assistant. Fine. All right.

So, yeah, this is my first year. Do I have to say anything to make this official? It's been a minute since I've done Robin's rule.

Well, I introduced you, so you're fine.

Okay, sounds good.

Okay, so, yeah, my name is Melissa Farkey.

This is my first year as the City Parks and Rec. and that was kind of a last minute thing. Laura Johnson was busy doing other things. She was a great resource for me this summer. So I was a director. Assistant director was Marissa Whaley. She is a second grade teacher in Sioux Falls, lives here in town. Assistants Kate Danielson and Cheryl Moss, they were great. That was a great team. We really, by the end, had things rolling, everything really quick. So we had roughly 72 signups total. I think there would have been more, but like I said, I was kind of a late hire. Like up until about two weeks, even a week before the program started, they didn't know whether it was gonna happen. So even like for the, I think even a couple days in that second week, I had people texting me, hey, can I still sign up? I said absolutely, we're not at capacity, let them join. So attendance was kind of down a little bit too. First and second grade was right about 25. And then it kind of dipped down. Third and fourth grade, 20. And then fifth and sixth grade would kind of fluctuate quite a bit, probably about 15. But a lot of those kids especially had soccer or something going on. So a lot of them would either text me. Their parents were great. They would text me and say, we're going to miss. And I said, it's a free program. It's OK if you're not here. But then some of them, they still would want to come. They'd come for half the time, and then they'd leave halfway through. We did a variety of activities. I brought a little sampling. This was one of the crafts we would do. We would usually do a craft for the first half, and then we would play a game for the second half. Except for that second week where it was like 100 degrees all week, we pretty much did water games and water crafts because it was really hot. So thank you to whoever turns off the faucet. Yeah, so some of the most popular crafts, except there's a tie-dye bag. This was really popular. Kids that missed really were excited to come back and be able to do it. We've got a few other things in here. You want to show them? We made some ornaments. Nice. Christmas ornaments. There's all sorts of, the creativity of these kids really was very impressive to watch. And the third and fourth graders, they really were probably like, they were the ones that were really into it. Some of the first and second graders needed a little extra help, and the fifth and sixth graders were kind of, you know, sometimes too cool for something like that. We made some flower pots, and then I was an ag journalist for a long time. I had a whole bucket of sorghum So they planted some sorghum up on the table. I haven't heard back whether it was a buddy agronomist in the community. And then probably the most popular crafts were this. And then they loved making bracelets. I teach at Washington High School in Sioux Falls. This was a rubber band bracelet made by Miss Hazel here. So sometimes if there were some down times, these kids were like, can I make a bracelet? So they would do something like this. Or we had yarn. The assistants were really great. And we forgot the little mini beads, too, where you put the mini beads on and then iron them. So, good stuff like that. I was told I had a $2,000 budget. I came in at $863.95. Oh, I missed. This is why I was a proofreader. I missed the decimal. It was $729.49.

Something.

Yeah, I can get you the real. Oh, that's right. Yeah. And then, so that was kind of for craft and supplies. Some of it, there were supplies in there, but like the paint having sat in that shed all summer kind of got gross. So I hope it's okay. I have some of the paint and stuff that I'm just keeping in my basement so that next year we actually don't have to buy it or replace when it's perfectly good. Because yeah, some of that stuff just probably shouldn't sit in the shed all year long in the heat and in the cold. Bless you. The last day we had a sunshine, we had an ice cream social. And that came in at 139 and a penny. So a total of 863.95. Yeah, like I said, I think some of that could have been saved just by not buying stuff that had gone bad. And some of it had just been in there a while too, so that's fine. I know Laura previously had done, on the last few days, she would do parties like ice cream trucks or the Zoomobile or something. So that's something like next year when I have a little more heads up, you know, would like to do some of that stuff. So I know we came in well under budget, but I think there's room for kind of, you know, won't spend so much on supplies, but we'll maybe do a little more fun activities, bring some more kids in and having more kids sign up. So yeah, that was looking ahead. Oh, and there were a couple behavior issues. I did have to text some parents. So it might be kind of nice, and this might be because two of us were teachers, that like maybe just a half day or even a more, you know, an hour or two the day before the program starts, the staff can meet and say, how are we going to handle this so that when it happens, we're ready. Yep. Are there questions? Yeah.

No. Any questions? Great. Thank you for stepping in.

I'm doing it next year. That's the plan. It sounds like our whole group came back from college. Cheryl and Marissa were really excited. Like I said, by the time we got to the end of it, we're like, okay, well now we've really got it figured out. So next year we can hopefully just, one, we'll have more time to plan ahead of time. Yeah.

Expand it to a third week next year or maybe not.

It's four weeks.

It is four. I was thinking it was only two.

I should have put the dates on there actually.

I thought it was only two weeks. I think we do four weeks.

I would maybe.

I did think about if we would split it maybe. Do two weeks and then have a week off and then split another and do the next two weeks. Because the whole month of July people are traveling at some point.

if we would do the last week of june first week well i just say this you got a few months now to figure it out yeah there you go you guys are on board we can address that with a time we really appreciate you and it is uh when we weren't knowing if we're going to have it we did get some calls that people were man are you going to do that yeah because i think the people that use the program really love it so we really like to keep it going we appreciate you stepping in and Wonderful.

Yeah, the kids really love it. They're excited. They're all excited about coming back next year. I'm excited about, one, I'm competitive. Like, let's beat the numbers sort of thing.

Well, that's what we like. Good enough. We're going to keep moving along. Thank you.

All right. Somebody's got a bedtime, so we've got to go. You bet.

Oh, and we want to beat the storm in case it rains.

That, too, also. Yeah, my tomatoes will be happy, though.

Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thank you. Next up we have Amy here from the pool. First off, how many years have you been doing this?

I was either pregnant with Olivia or Jack. I think I was pregnant with Olivia, and she turned 21 yesterday. It's been a while. Yeah, so she's, I think, well, maybe it's only 20 years. I think I had her already.

Okay.

About 20, maybe, around there. I kind of quit counting. We had a really good season, favorable weather throughout May, June, and July, contributing to strong attendance. Evening attendance was noticeably higher than in the previous years. The pool remained well utilized through the summer. This year we sold 812 individual passes. So we got rid of the family and asked for quite a bit of those, contributing to the pool's strong attendance throughout the season. We hosted two sessions of swimming lessons in partnership with MBIE. With one two-week session held in June and another in July, both sessions reached full enrollment, demonstrating community interest in drill construction. Patients' safety remained our highest priority this season. Barb Toller generously volunteered her time to conduct nine in-service training drills for the staff. These drills ensured guards remained actively engaged in surveillance techniques while practicing and reinforcing their emergency response skills. The lifeguards performed exceptionally well this season, completing 10 water rescues that required an entering water to retreat agent. Fortunately, none of those required activation of the emergency medical services. This season's new lifers were Hadley Larson, Alex Bays, and Olivia Christensen. Returning guards included Jocelyn Jarding, Giselle Jarding, Luke Knight, and Molly Thornton. Assistant managers for the season were Jody Jensen, Jocelyn Jarding, Giselle Jarding, Luke Knight, and Molly Thornton. the pool hosted 26 scheduled private pool parties throughout the season in addition we held fireman's party on july 21st and the golden west pool party on august 4th the attendance for the golden west was quite a bit lower this year just because The weather was so cold.

And wasn't there something else going on that night?

I don't know. It rained. There was a storm that night. Yeah, actually, it was lightning, so we had to close for a little bit. They had to leave the pool. Yeah. I mean, but then they did get to... So you have to close it for 20 minutes unless it lights up again. So we did get to open again, but it was... just cooler than normal. The pool closed for the season August 14th to accommodate their earlier start of the school year. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the lifeguards and managers for their reliability, professionalism, and dedication through the season. Providing a safe and enjoyable environment for our patrons were greatly appreciated. A special thank you to Neil for his work behind the scenes. He played an important role. Like every season, he just makes my job easier because he handles everything. Thank you to all of you for always supporting the pool and the staff. We look forward to another successful season next year. Any questions?

Well, the morning crowd is happy most of the time.

Most of the time.

You know, if the water's a tenth of a degree off, they're usually, you know...

i know that's neil that's all neil or the mother it depends on if it's raining the night before yeah it could be the temperature so it is hard to manage i was telling it's an outdoor pool it's not indoors so it's hard to manage i'm sure some of them lifeguards go away thinking what is wrong with these old people they talk about stuff that

You know what they say? I'm not going to be like this. I'm not going to be an old person. And they will.

What's on your wish list?

Wendy asked me that. Shade would be nice. We do have the one in the baby pool. The umbrella. I think they approved that. It's kind of more spread out so it's not the umbrella. But it shades more you know, width so it covers more. So she recommended, I'm like, oh, that'd be genius because all we have are those, you know, those portable ones that you put on the benches that always bend when we have a storm or a wind. It's just, they're not.

They're going to roll a couple big cattle ones in. Yeah. They sink them to the bottom and then you got shade.

Yeah. Tom would love a new steamer system. Actually, all the guards would like a new steamer system. We have the speakers on this side, but it makes it so loud on this side, and then on the other side, there's nothing, so.

Yeah, new speakers, yeah.

Well, it would be, yeah, it would be nice, but.

That seems like an easy ask.

And then, would you like a microphone, too, so that?

Absolutely, carry over. Right, so you can do it. So they can.

What the blind cards needed to do, if you needed to make an announcement or something like that.

Yeah, I mean, that's a good idea. Oh, I thought you were thinking this, Jackie.

Well, that couldn't happen.

More for public addressing. Yeah.

Well, I know, like when we do have the emergency drills, it's hard for them to, you know, they can't wear a relay and then jump in the water because you never know which one's going to have to jump in.

Right.

or even announcing like the weather like yes we're closing right yeah I know I hear that our deal with MB is not gonna happen is that true so I was talking about, I know she's called Sioux Falls, I don't know. They're gonna have to do something just to keep Sioux Falls open, you know, because they can't go at all.

Was Envy doing theirs too, in Sioux Falls?

They do all the water safety instructions.

In the area.

And so they were so full, and they only, you know, because everybody's short of workers. Yeah. So they only had a certain amount of classes for them to get certified, you know, and it's the whole weekend, so there's only a few dates. And we had lifeguards that needed to get certified. And I called around to Midco. They wouldn't let us because we're hard for lifeguards. They would only certify Sioux Falls guards. And then I called Mitchell. They were full. They had one. Brookings had one, but they didn't have another one. And I called Madison, they didn't have any more. And I also, she did end up going to La Verne to get certified. Because I know that's gonna be an issue. But I know the lady that kind of, she's a teacher in Canada, sort of at Sydney. She's from Miller. She's a manager there. And she has her water safety instructions. So she trains Back in the summertime. So I think she would probably be willing to at least train our guards to come out if we could set a date.

Miller's getting a new pool too. Are they? Yeah.

I was talking to her about her pool hours. I thought we were open all day, but they have a swim team. So then they come in at 6 in the morning. Oh my. And they're open until 9 at night. My guards wanted to be done earlier in the summer. So they're like, can we just stay open during the lunch and the dinner break instead of having that break and then close at 8 instead of 8.30 in bed. It's hard to do that because we have pool parties during those times. If, I mean, and they're not every five o'clock, we don't have pool parties. You know, we also offer it, like they do, they only offer the pool parties on the weekends. Miller does. But, and there's this, I think they're only an hour long. but our football um west central football players they've reserved the pool this year and it was an 8 30 pool party and there's like 50 some football players i didn't work i didn't want to work there

But you had to fill the pool when they were gone.

The water. Well, I did stop by to see my nephew, Oscar, because he was there. And there was water all over the deck. It was, like, everywhere. And then Giselle, I don't think she could find the lights to the outside, so they were swimming in the dark. And I told her it's in the shed. But they were late anyway. But I think they had fun, and I think they'll probably do it every year.

Well, we appreciate all your work, Amy. Yeah.

it's fun so does that mean no swimming lessons in the summer for well that's what we got a possibility um it is i mean you know i've talked to trees in the past but

trying to do our part to do it. The problem with that, I know a lot of people do that, the problem is every year I have to get them certified. And the turnover is so iffy. They might be there this year, but not next year. So then we've trained, we've gotten, we've paid for them, and it's expensive to get their water safety. So are they only going to be here? Are they going to come back? And then some years I've got kids that are in high school that are playing softball. They have basketball practice in the morning or power, weight lifting. So it's hard to guarantee that these guys are going to dedicate themselves. Just swimming lessons. And then every year, I could have it one year. But then next year, I wouldn't. So it's just like it's a headache to.

Back in the day, I worked at a small town pool. That's what we did. I mean, 6 in the morning until 7 p.m. in the whole bit. But we didn't have managers, but we had guards. And they were the ones. And they made more, so they paid for the certification and all of that. And then usually, it was like those kids who are coming who have intentions to come back every summer, but they, I mean, you may have to commit to working. You know, you have to commit to working.

Right, and to be there.

Because some years, like, I've had really good guards the last, how many years? Like, Jocelyn's been there for eight years. Giselle's been there for six. Yeah. I mean, I've had a lot of guards stay for, they start with a 15, and they go through their, you know, like Joss is a senior, she just graduated from college, so.

She's getting married next summer. Yeah. Did you know that?

Yeah.

And did the individual passes eliminate all of your, did it make it easier for everybody?

It was a dream.

Best thing we ever did.

Because it was so much easier than, you know, a lot of families. There's like four or less names with some families. It just was so simple. Yeah, that was the best thing he did. I know they like to have a deal, but you know what? I just tell my husband, for 40 bucks for the whole summer. And you're there. You could be there morning, afternoon, night. And a lot of kids are.

You could get that paid off in like three days. That's very reasonable. You know what I mean? Very reasonable.

So you have to decide, will they use it? And if not, you just do the daily tax, which is still affordable when you think of $4. You can't buy a pocket of hemp for $4.

All right. Well, thank you, Amy. I'm sure there'll be some conversation on the whole swimming lesson deal before things are said and done. We appreciate everything you do. Thank you. Appreciate you. All right. Let's jump down to applications, agreements, hearings, resolutions, ordinances. First up, special event application for Epic Sky displays. This is for fireworks at the 9-11... West Central football game. And they're gonna shoot them on their own lot, it looks like, and their application is here. Certification of insurance. As with any special fireworks display, they have to have a special event permit, that's why it's here.

Make a motion to approve the special event application for Epic Skies displays.

I'll second. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Schilling.

Yes.

Horacek. Yes. Keough. Yes. Mattson.

Yes.

Carlson. Yes. All right, the next one is also for the school. This is for the homecoming parade.

Would you make a note? Could we put something in the newsletter or whatever to let people know there will be fireworks?

Oh, maybe just put it out on our notification deal.

Whether or not they read it is up to them. We can say we get it.

Right. The next one is for the West Central Homecoming Parade, which is September 18th. Between 1.30 and 3.30, route is attached. Application has been presented.

I'll make a motion to approve the special amendment application for the West Central Homecoming Parade on September 18th. I hear it's not practicing today, so.

I'll second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson. Yes. Mattson.

Yes.

Keel. Yes. Rodchick. Yes. Chilling.

Yes.

All right, next up is first reading of ordinance 777. That's an interesting number. That is our 2027 budget ordinance, which we are required by codified law to have two motions to pass, or two readings to pass.

Motion to approve first reading of ordinance 777. Second. Any discussion?

Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson.

Yes.

Mattson. Yes. Keel. Yes. Horacek. Yes. Shelley.

Yes.

And I think all the stuff that we talked about is all in there according to Teresa's notes. And there's page after page after page. Yeah. All right, next up is resolution 2026-12. This is our 2027 street maintenance fee. And according to Teresa's recommendation sheet, they are recommending that we would leave it the same, which is at $2 a linear foot, lineal foot. with a minimum of 130 bucks.

I'll make a motion to approve resolution 2026-12 for the 2027 street maintenance fee.

Second.

Any discussion? I see that there's other cities that are a little more summer. I think we're kind of right in the... I'm in the midst of what all those guys are doing, so. All right, hearing no other discussion, we'll vote. Shelly. Yes. Project. Yes. Keel. Yes. Mattson. Yes. Carlson.

Yes.

All right, we'll jump down to reports. First up, Mr. Deputy Alex Wall.

Good to see you guys. You bet. So this last month in August, we were busy. Not as many work services in town, just three of those. We did have more traffic stops, 73 traffic stops. Our accidents, for whatever reason, went way up to 13. It was about double what we had last month. Been checking the parks. Those cameras are awesome. I don't know if any of you guys have seen the cameras. They flash red and blue really bright at night. So a little bit of a deterrent for kids going to the bathrooms messing stuff up. Only two juvenile delinquencies last month. Reckless driving continues to be a problem. We're getting after those as much as we can. Night shift had Eight suspicious vehicles at various locations around the city. And again, about nine traffic hazards. And that was at the beginning of the month before school started with the scooters. So 300 calls for service. That was printed just a couple days before, so I'm sure we had about between 40 and 60 more than that. Another thing I'd like to talk about is I've been in contact with my captains about the Highway 38 Maple, Mayor, as we talked about before, talking about maybe getting that speed limit reduced just with the new Quirk Star going in there and trucks and things like that might be an issue, especially with the number of accidents going up here.

I did today talk to, I had a call yesterday from former Mayor Paul Zimmer, happened to hear within the last couple weeks, noticed all, I mean it was close that there was an accident, truck pulled out of a place along 38 in front of a car. They had to just absolutely slam on the brakes and go into the other lane to go around, or they would have hit him, almost hit another car head on. He was behind him and he said, I'm not kidding you, he said, He was reaching for his phone because he figured he was going to have to. I mean, it must have been close. So he kind of took it upon himself. He's called the state. He called Joy Hohn, our senator, and he called me just to let me know that, hey, I don't want to step on your toes, but I'm going to rock the boat as hard as I can. I told him, I said, you know.

We all agree. Go for it.

And I did tell him, I said, in my conversations with the state, I have never had much success, but... maybe we're at a point, you're right, Deputy, I think that this deal with Quickstar is going to change that whole. The traffic patterns out there are going to change immensely. And I think we have to be aware of that. I've proposed when I have the chance to talk to the state that we slow it down from the interstate coming in and that we slow it down the other way, get them up past Mickelson. So I really think we're just going to have to keep pushing. Joy Hohn, our senator, is, I mean, she's going to call the people that fear. I mean, she's going to step on the gas a little bit for us. So I'm hoping that maybe we can get some traction and see if we can get something to happen.

Excellent. We've had several significant accidents actually this month with just on 38, between 90 and Nicholson.

Yeah, it's busy. And the traffic council. Wasn't somebody here and they were telling us about traffic counts?

Yeah, they did. I was trying to remember who didn't believe the count. Oh, I remember. That was not at a council meeting. It was at a separate meeting.

Yeah. But we were talking about traffic counts and they said it's crazy. The nighttime is far worse than the morning. It gets busy. Yeah. They said at nighttime it really gets busy coming through. It sure does. So, anyway. All right, any questions for the deputies? And we might as well say, and we're trying to get one of the captains, Captain, I can never.

There's Captain Zistia, Captain Bosman. Just guys.

Zistia, yeah. To come probably next week, next meeting if we can get it put together to lay out some of the details of the discussion on flock cameras that has been going on. I had a nice visit today with soon to be, well, I better not say that. candidate for sheriff, not Josh Phillips, let's say it politically correct. So I had a nice visit with Josh. Josh, he's very well aware. And he said, by all means, he said, you know, we're working, he said, we're having meetings on it all the time. So I would like to, you know, have that opportunity to have him come up. That way if the council has any questions or really more, if citizens see it in the agenda and they want to come, that'd be a chance for them to come. Absolutely. And, you know, that's, That's what I'm kind of after. All right? Anybody else got any questions for the deputy? Scooter deal goes in effect on the 10th.

How does that turn out the asphalt processing plant?

It's gone.

Well, I know it's gone. Do we have to enforce it? Did the sheriff have to go up and stop them? Because I saw that they kept on going for a few days.

We did per ordinance. I don't think they got their letter. We sent them a certified letter. And I believe when the When they received the letter, they contacted Teresa and I can't remember what day she said it was, but they were done. I mean, it was gone the next day. So.

Yeah. I was not. So. It went that far. Yeah.

Yeah.

Good.

All right. Well, good enough.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you. You guys have a great night. Keep up the good work. We'll see you. Yep.

Thank you.

All right. You know what it is. Most important time of the night, most exciting time of the evening, city engineer report. He's got big stuff tonight, I know. All right, go Michael.

Good evening everyone. General engineering side had a couple of planter views come through this week, so working through those and then continuing to work on that storm retention, working on a roadmap for the subcommittee so we can lay out a plan and find times to meet and keep that one moving. On the project side of things, the water resource recovery facility, both ISG and RS Lake continue to push subcontractors for warranty items that are outstanding, both on the warranty and the punch list. On the lift station landscaping, kind of as part of that project too, we have received quotes from three out of the six call it vendors that we solicited from. Continue to push those this week if you'd like, understanding that it's been a good, I believe, two months now since it was originally approved. We can let them know that we'd like those quotes back by the next meeting. If you'd like to keep that one moving, otherwise we can wait for their schedule. I will leave that up to council. And then lastly, on the landscaping at the site, that is another one that we are pushing, we in Orange State are pushing that subcontractor onto those trees that were approved at the last meeting. On the Mickelson Road shared use path, design has resumed on that and we expect documents for submittal to the DOT near the end of the month. As part of that review, it has to go through both the DOT construction plan review as well as the bid letter review. So once we have plans on our end, it goes through two of their reviews each taking a few weeks each. So we're still planning to start construction on that in the spring based on reviews for Western Avenue. I don't see any issues with that at this time, but once we get it in their hands, we'll certainly provide updates there. Kelly Avenue, as discussed at the last meeting, we will have that follow meeting with residents on the 15th prior to the council meeting that night. And then last, four project updates on the Rude Lane and Diamond Trail intersection reconstruction. Blacktop did get that. driveway approach done to the coffee cup that we're going to use as a traffic control route. And then on the main project for the actual intersection there, a pre-construction meeting is planned for tomorrow where we'll sit down with the GC as well as themselves to talk through the project. get our ducks in a row prior to construction start, and then give them notice to proceed. I did receive a schedule from them today that they tentatively plan to start the week of the 14th. So, okay. If anything changes tomorrow, I'll be sure to send an update to council. And then lastly, did request a proposal for geotechnical testing services for that project. Unfortunately, did not receive it in time on Friday for this council report. So I do anticipate presenting that for council review at the next meeting. Typical, similar to past projects, testing of soil, concrete, asphalt materials and whatnot. So happy to answer any questions on the report. Otherwise there are two action items for council.

Let's talk about the water tower.

Sure. So as requested, we did reach out to McGuire Iron Local Tower manufacturer and painter for a quote to repaint the tower at 9th and Vandermark, considering this tower is out of service, just be an exterior clean and overcoat on it, and adding the city logo. They did provide a quote for... Let me scroll through real quick, I apologize. For 95,470, however, we did find out Friday that since it is an older coat and they are not sandblasting or removing the old coating, that if they were to paint it white, it'd kind of be similar to painting a wall white at your house. You'd want to prime it first, otherwise you'd kind of see that blue showing through. So the quote as presented is for a blue base color similar to what is already out there.

which was not my intent, as you all know.

How much more is that going to be if they would have to use the Primer Code?

I will have to, depending on what you would like to do, I can certainly follow back up with them. I would anticipate it would be an increase based on where we're at. And we won't get it done this fall. We would not get it done this fall, and then two, yes, it would need to be big.

Yeah, then we're going to be over, well, I know we'll be over 100 grand, because that's two runs up and down.

Yep. Is it in bad shape, the paint?

Nothing out of the ordinary. One of the painters actually stopped out. a couple weeks back just to take a look at it, see what it was. Just thought it needed some pressure washing, a few spots, maybe some isolated rust blasting, but didn't see any issue with the majority of it.

The blue does sort of match the sky. I was looking at it a little bit this week. It sort of blends in. It's not very noticeable. But maybe that's what you were going for. The north is all over.

No, I was going for white.

Yeah, I was going for noticeable. With the blue where the main issue is the lettering. Right. It's blue on blue. We'd have to change the colors there. Right.

The other one is white.

The other one is white. With the logo. Correct.

Yeah, when I found that out this afternoon, let's just say it. I maybe wasn't happy. I'm just throwing that out there.

Can we go a different color with the city logo on it, though?

Well, it depends.

Can we do blue and the, I mean, well, we could change it into black or something like that.

It defeats the purpose. I want it to look like the other water tower.

That's what I think. I have a vision here. I think it's a match. Sorry.

Or as my wife says, it's not your water tower. That's what she reminded me of today. She says it is the city's water tower. I said I know it, but I've kind of taken it. This is kind of under my wing kind of a deal.

Although, I mean, look at your emblem on your shirt. We've changed that.

Anyway, well, I think bottom line for this meeting tonight since we asked them to supply this boat is I would hope that we're going to say no, we don't want to move forward because I want to, I still, if you guys are okay with it, I'd still like to figure out if we can make it white. That's my request, I guess, of the council. I look back through the quote, and it does not say, I think it doesn't say that it's going to be blue, or did I miss it? I looked back.

It didn't specify a color, and you'll see the email I had to make sure that the logo was not blue as well. Right, right. So, anyway. To McGuire's credit, they did provide that quite quickly. Oh, absolutely. I get it. Yes. There are some things we needed to clarify.

Yeah. So, but bottom line is it's, It's probably not going to happen this year.

I'm still unconvinced it needs to happen.

Exactly. And if that's really, really, if that's the case, then...

I'm willing to keep having the discussion.

I get it.

I agree with you. However, I think that if we want it done, the price is going to go up. So if it's something that we really want done within the next few years, I think we need to think about, not necessarily this, because I think you're right, I think the white would look better, but if it's something that we are really entertaining in the next few years, we should probably, it's just gonna get a higher price. It's just gonna keep raising, so.

If we approved it with the stipulation that it has to be white, if they came back and said, oh, we can do it for another, you know, five grand, we're still under the hundred. Would that be a...

If that is how you're going to proceed, I will coordinate that with the provider.

That would be, I'm sitting here thinking, if I make a motion to approve a pane of the water tower to not exceed... $99,500, but we need to negotiate to make sure it's white. We haven't choked off the opportunity, and we don't delay trying to get it. Timing is of the essence, and we can give you some latitude to work and navigate a satisfactory color.

could we just paint it white with no logo that would decrease the cost and then we could put the logo up that's a that's another workaround i would say that's up i would and

How much more was it going to be to go away?

I'm not sure. Yeah, I don't think that question's been asked yet, right? It is not, correct.

That's what I understood from Justin. Where my concern lies is if you don't paint it white this year and say come back next year or the following year and put the logo on, that's going to incur two mobilizations costs. Right. And a lot of the rating is from what they told us on the other water tower up on Oaks, mobilizations a significant amount just with the harnesses, this energy, all the tie-offs that they did. Correct.

Yeah, I think we'll be dollars ahead to try to do it in one shot. That's not a bad idea. And if they come back and say, no, we can't do it, then we plan B from there. Right? Whatever. Then at least we'll know and we can account for it. But yeah, if we instruct our engineers to to play that card, so to speak, see what happens.

I don't know why I so afraid of that.

Could we get two quotes, one with the local and one without? If it's all white, maybe they can get it in for 99.9 or something like that. without the logo. I don't know. I don't think the logo might take a long time.

I mean, it'd take me a long time, but those guys, maybe they had a stencil or something.

They stenciled that on it.

It is pretty much a giant stencil, yes. Oh. Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah, they stenciled it on, and they made him, I'm assuming most of that's probably him. Yeah. Yeah.

I am struggling with the need, too. I mean, it's such a, I think it would be great for it to match. I think it would be, that it's not going anywhere.

Right.

But I'm like, $100,000.

And if we wait until it really needs it, will it cost us $200,000?

It could. That's just right.

Well, when we get to that point, there's going to be another option. It's not going to include painting. Believe me, after I found this out today, I really, I'll use my words that went through my head. I got to get over it. If we say that it's, you know, I get it. It's a lot of money. It was just, it was something that I kind of had stuck in my head, so I don't know how else to explain it.

Well, I mean, as I came into town on Sunday evening from the west, you know, eastbound into town, you see the new white water tower, you see that blue water tower? It would look significantly better to have them both the same color. I'm an optics guy, remember? Yeah, and we get rid of the On the Right Road logo. Correct, that's the other thing. That's been in the ditch for a long time. Long time.

Is that on it?

Yes.

Oh.

It says On the Right Road.

Which side?

Facing the south side. Yeah. So, yeah, I didn't just dream this up. All right, what do you want to do? If we do nothing, we do nothing too, right?

We can even put it off until next meeting.

Or not, what would happen? Would we miss the window for them to get in there and paint it? They've been getting it very full this year. If it were to be approved, they want to know what he's had. But if... Yeah. I move to approve the quote from McGuire-Iron contingent that the water tower be painted white and for the change order to not exceed a total out-of-pocket allowance to the city of $99,500. Okay. Does that make sense, Karen? Mm-hmm. Do we have a second?

I don't care about a little bit. But I personally don't care. I mean, I'll let the... You're saying right now get it white? Get it white. Okay. Huh?

I said, I think it would be good to know what the additional is.

The additional. Local price. I'm sure they'll tell us that. That's it. But you're going to know, what you're asking with your motion is, this is the dollar figure, can we do it or not? Yes, basically. Okay. Yes. We have a motion, do we have a second? I'm capping, putting some parameters on.

Got it. Do we have a second? Yeah.

I'll second it. All right, do we have any more discussion?

I just want to clarify, this motion is just to make it white at the 99.5 without the logo?

This motion would, in essence, allow our city engineer to negotiate with McGuire to get it painted white. If they can work a logo in and keep the price under $99,500, so be it, so be it.

Otherwise, if they can't, they'll tell us.

And then we'll have to plan.

Once I receive a quote, if it's under that, meets those criteria under that 985, send it to Teresa. She'd be able to sign it. Get it out to us. Get it in there. Correct. Yes.

Yes.

When is the tower that we talk about out by the interstate, when's that supposed to go up?

Or new or no, that's probably 10 years off.

Oh, okay.

It's on the CIP, isn't it? Five years? Five to 10. Five to 10. Depending on the city's growth. Yeah. Depends on growth. How quick we really need it.

And that's what water towers do? They just sit there until someone throws them down? Or they just sit there?

You could sell space. You could sell advertising on it. No, if it's white.

Some cities use it as a tenant power. Absolutely. They sell the power here in both leases. What a lot of towns that have the powers end up with is they're sold, but they're led main, and it just costs too much to carry them out, so they sit there. Yeah.

Right. We have a lease on ours.

Yeah, we do have a lease on ours. Just one. Just one. Right. Any other discussions? All right, let's vote. Carlson.

Oh, man, I didn't want to be first.

All right, I'll go yes.

You seconded. That doesn't mean you're in favor of it. Yeah, yeah.

People are going to watch this. You know what?

I would beg him, don't start with me. Don't start with me.

Okay, Madsen.

No.

Okay, Keel. Yes. Horace.

Yes.

Schilling. No. Okay. So that died? All right. All right. So now you have your answer. We'll go from there. That'll go on the shelf, as we say, for now.

Correct. All right. Next up is a construction administration and construction observation and staking contract for the route lane and Diamond Trail intersection route construction projects, similar to past projects. In services, however, based on the contractor and general scope of work, we feel that part-time inspection is only required for this one. And so we have estimated that for 20 hours a week, for four weeks, everything else is exactly the same as other projects we have partnered with the city on.

Motion to approve the contract with ISG for construction administration of the Rudd-Diamond intersection project.

Second.

Any discussion?

Hearing none, we'll vote. Shelley? Yes. Project? Yes. Keel? Yes. Madsen? Yes. Carlson? Yes. All right, what else you got, Michael? That's all I have. All right. Craig is not here tonight. I talked with him this morning. His report is in the packet. He said if we needed to call him, we could, but... I looked through and didn't see anything that needed immediate attention. All right? He does have a action item in there for approval of the purchase of a skid steer. I think this is on the budget for this year, if that's not, right? Right. Yeah, that's in the budget this year.

And it's under budget.

Yep. Yep, it was 66,000 is what we budgeted and it came in at 60,675. That includes a bucket. Bucket. And a pallet fork. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. And it's got some other nice options. And I see it has a radio. Wow.

I'll pay for lessons to drive that thing. I think that'd be a lot of fun.

There you go.

I wonder if that price could be, just the average Joe could get that price. I wonder.

I feel like no, because it's through the special price. Through the, yeah, through the... It's for the contracting.

It's a good price.

I make a motion to approve the purchase of the Gauss Gate Steer. Second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson? Yes. Mattson? Yes. Keel? Yes. Peracek? Yes. Schilling? Yes. All right. Takes care of Craig's stuff. Finance Officer Karen, you got anything you want to say since you're in charge tonight? You can say whatever you want. Teresa's sitting at home watching.

She probably is. There's one person watching.

She's probably her.

She's judging how you're doing. Are they, Tracy? Yeah. No, I have nothing to add unless someone has questions.

Any questions for Karen?

I don't have a question, but the revenue in our general fund is higher than it was last year.

So are the expenses.

Potato, potato. I'm worried about our income. We've been down. Is this the first month we're caught up here today? We've been behind, haven't we?

Our sales tax numbers have been lagging. That's probably some of it, right?

Yeah. It kind of goes back and forth. Here I am being a little optimistic.

Somebody crushes? Yeah. I hear ya. Boom!

Boom!

Alright, thank you Karen. Let's move to Teresa's report. As aforementioned, she is not here this evening. I looked through her recap notes at the bottom. Detention pond, you guys are probably going to set up a meeting at some point to talk about that. That was Travis and Cindy. Sidewalk committee met. Myself, Michelle Darrell had a really good meeting. We've decided to move forward with first step being sidewalk repair. I think, did she send that out to everybody, the ordinance? Or just the three of us?

Oh, I just looked at my, I don't know, because I just looked at it myself.

We're going to look at the ordinance and what we'll probably do is bring that back to you guys for some tweaks as to how we, how I should move forward. Isn't that what we kind of, I thought that's what we kind of decided. Yeah, I don't see it on my emails. Yeah, I think she just sent it to the three of us for starters. Street assessment up on 12th and Oaks is due. We'll talk about that next meeting, it looks like. And she does have an action item for a couple of our folks to attend the South Dakota Municipal League, and this year it's Craig and Kyle, and that's coming up in Aberdeen the first week in, I think it's the first of all week in October, the sixth through the ninth. So I need action from the council to approve them going to that.

Make a motion for Wagner.

Oh, that's under new business. Sorry. Yeah, that's under new business. Sorry.

I would make a motion to approve attendance at the 2026 SDML annual conference for Wagner and Christensen. Second. Any discussion?

Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Shelly?

Yes.

Project? Yes. Keel? Yes. Mattson?

Yes.

Carlson?

Yes.

All right, and the last one, this time of the year, we typically reappoint our mayoral, or no, excuse me, our city attorney and city engineer. Again, I would like... council to approve my recommendations to retain Freeburg Nelson and ask again for our city attorney, ask again, it sounds kind of funny. Freeburg Nelson and ask as our city attorney and ISG to be our city engineer for the next year.

Do they have to be in separate motions? Separately.

Separately? Okay. Let's do them separately.

Let's do that. Motion to approve city attorney for 2026 to 2027, Freebird, Nelson, and Ask. All right. Second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll vote. Carlson? Yes. Mattson? Yes. Keel? Yes. Horacek? Yes. Schilling? Yes. All right. And then on the city engineer for ISG.

Motion to approve City Engineer for 2026 to 2027, ISG. Second.

Any discussion?

Michael, do you even have a choice in this?

He's going to talk during discussion. He's hoping not to lose a client and explain what went awry. It just seems like you're good.

They wooed the mayor pretty hard last week. Oh, yeah, they wooed me. Brought him down to their corporate office.

I was at the corporate office, ISG's corporate office.

Showed him where the beer keg was.

I did see that. All right, hearing nothing else, we'll vote. Chilling, Horacek, Keough, Manson, Carlson. All right. I don't know that we have anything for exact. Karen? I don't think so. All right, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

And second?

Second.

All in favor? Aye. I like it. I was stepping on the gas there. I hope you guys really hit the switch key. Or one of you.