City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the meeting of the Municipal Council of Monday, September 21st, 2026. We will start with the appeal and the verification of the legal number.

We have the legal number. Thank you.

Now we will have the invocation of Pastor Steve Selfridge, followed by the oath of loyalty. If you are able and want to do it, please raise it.

Ti rendiamo grazie, Signore, perché sei buono. Il tuo amore costante dura per sempre. Ne siamo grati. Ti ringrazio per questo comune, per chi rappresenta. Prego per ognuno di loro. E ti chiedo di benedire lui e tutte le donne, sia Chris Armstrong che Mayer. Di benedire gli assessori Biberdorf e Tamang, Stroman, Evans, Lehman, Roberts and Mayer. Grazie per il tempo che dedica. Pedeltà. Bagnè.

Now I accept a motion to adopt the order of the day.

Received the motion from Mayer with the second finger for adoption. All in favor? Contrary? Very well, the order of the adopted day. We have a couple of proclamations, but... Go ahead. We'll start.

Do we have anyone here for the awareness on the prevention of falls? All right, then come on. All right, boss, go around. Go, yes, done.

Bring Dexter too.

Well, it's a pleasure for me to do this proclamation for the week of awareness on the prevention of falls. This is our second, I think it's the second year we've been doing it.

Maybe the third. So it's a pretty important thing? which we often do not think about. So I hope this raises awareness about the problem. So I will read the proclamation and if any of you have something to add, it is welcome. Considering that falls are the main cause of fatal and non-fatal visions among the elderly, which can have lasting impacts on health, mobility, trust, independence, and the quality of life of a person. Considering that in 2024 the Department of Health of South Dakota reported 180 deaths, 1,649 recoveries and 8,012 visits to the emergency room among the elderly in South Dakota due to accidental falls, showing the significant impact that falls have on individuals, families and communities. Considering that falls are not a normal part of aging and that many can be prevented through practical strategies based on scientific evidence, including regular physical activity, drug management, routine care for sight and hearing, as well as the identification and removal of dangers at home. Considering that the Rapid City Fire Department, here with me tonight, Monument Health Home Care, the Department of Health of South Dakota, Black Hills Life Flight, the South Dakota EMS Association, the South Dakota Ambulance Association and the South Dakota State University Extension are committed to promoting the prevention of falls, increasing awareness and connecting seniors, caregivers, families and communities with resources that support safety, health, mobility and independence. Considering that the week of awareness on the prevention of falls offers the opportunity to increase awareness between elderly, caregivers, families, health workers and communities on the importance of preventing falls and adopting measures to create safer environments. And considering that protecting the elderly from preventable falls supports their health, independence and quality of life, honoring at the same time the important contributions that our families and our Rapid City community make. and considering that the support and participation of all citizens are essential to raise awareness on the prevention of falls and help the elderly to remain safe, active and independent in their homes and communities. Therefore, I, Jason Solomon, Mayor of Rapid City, proclaim with the present from September 21 to 25, 2026, the awareness week on the prevention of falls in Rapid City. And here it is. It's all signed, sealed and ready. So, did you want to say a few words?

No, I'm just grateful to be the only woman. Uh, this is elegant! I am grateful to take care of public education for fire guards and I focus a lot on children and other age groups, but we want to start focusing more on our elders. So I am grateful to have the opportunity and that the boss lets me act and reach the structures for the elderly. If there is someone who needs more information on how to help our elderly people live independently or on those who are in assisted structures, do not hesitate to contact the Fire Guards. I would be happy to provide you with more information so that you can keep your life independent for a while. Thank you very much.

We have to take a picture, can we go? You can go.

Well, I'll give you this.

Thank you both very much. Well, the next point is another important one for the month of suicide prevention and we have here with us the team of Journey On, as well as the LOSS team. They do a great job, obviously, in our entire community, including in this field that is often not talked about. So I am proud and honored to make this proclamation. I will read it out loud and then we will open the word. Considered that September is recognized at the national level as the national month of suicide prevention, a moment to increase awareness, honor lives lost because of suicide, support survivors and strengthen our collective commitment to prevention. And considered that the provisional national data show that 48,789 Americans died in suicide in 2025, making suicide the eleventh cause of death in the United States. Considering that the Pennington County recorded 45 suicides in 2025, compared to 38 in 2024, representing an increase of about 18%, and considering that suicide remains a serious concern for public health throughout South Dakota, in particular among young people, with suicide identified as the main cause of death among South Dakota citizens aged between 10 and 29 years. And considered that although there is not a single cause of suicide, including risk factors and alarm signals, reducing the stigma and contacting people with a storm support can help save lives. And considered that resilience begins in families, schools, workplaces and communities and can be strengthened in every phase of life through connection, compassion and access to appropriate care. and considering that various organizations and local entities are well rooted and provide immediate and compassionate support to individuals, families, the community and the area in general affected by the loss. Loss for suicide. Organizations including the Journey on Lost Team, which means Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide. to suicide survivors, the Catholic Social Services Crisis Care Center, the Abbott House and the Helpline Center, with the relative support of Project 477, Suicide Grief Support, Volunteer Connections, the 988 Lifeline line and the 211 Helpline line. Now, therefore, I, Jason Solomon, Mayor of Rapid City, proclaim, with the present, the month of September 2026 as the month of the prevention of suicide in Rapid City, and I appreciate that you have carried out this initiative. It is a topic that is not often talked about, but that has struck many of us, probably many in this room. So I invite you to share anything you want to say.

Good evening, mayor, members of the municipal council, members of the community. On behalf of the LOS team, I thank you for recognizing September as the month of suicide prevention. I am here in front of you as the director of the Team Loss program, but also as a person personally affected by suicide. Suicide is not just a statistic. In names, in faces, and right here in Rapid City, it affects our families, schools, workplaces, first responders and neighborhoods. Prevention means creating a community in which someone can say, I'm not well, and find compassion instead of judgment. Sometimes it starts simply by watching, checking, asking, thinking about suicide and being willing to listen and stay. There was a moment in my life when I would never have imagined to find myself where I am tonight, but that's why I know that the darkest day of a person should not be the end of his story. Pain can change, circumstances can change and lives can change. So this evening the challenge for Apizziti is simple. Observe, ask, listen, choose compassion, make sure that the people around you know that their lives matter. Suicide prevention belongs to all of us and sometimes hope begins with a single person willing to stay.

Hi, I'm Quattrosi. I am Vice President of the Board of Directors of JourneyOn and it has been an honor for me to be part of this group for almost a year now and I don't do anything in the board but these are the people who do everything they are out there every day every night taking care of people who need care and who do not have the ability to take care of themselves I am simply proud to be part of this group and to be aware of what is happening Because many people don't know what happens to Rapid City. These people don't know. They take care of all those who need it and, as I said, it was an honor to be part of this group and I thank these three people for everything they do. So we have to give it to you and I don't know, do we have to take a picture?

I'll see you later.

This evening we were supposed to have a special presentation. It will be postponed to another meeting. So let's move on to the comments of the public. This is the moment when citizens can discuss or express concerns of the Council on any issues not in the order of the day. Actions will not be taken during the meeting on issues not in the order of the day, except for entry through unanimous vote of the councilors present. I remind you that you have three minutes. I have some requests for intervention. First, William Wagner.

Good evening, Mayor. Commission. Paris. Everyone knows how to read the time, but not everyone knows what time it is. It's time to get to work. I'm here today not as a Republican, not as a Democratic or Independent. La mia spinta non appartiene a un partito politico, le linee di partito ci dividono, ma ciò che mi spinge ci unisce. Qualcosa di comune a ogni singola persona in ogni gruppo sociale della nostra comunità è l'acqua. Water is the vital lymph of our families, of our health and of our future. That's why it's fighting here today. If you vote in favor of this ordinance, you break our trust with the citizens who elected you. Your fundamental duty as public servants is to protect our shared resources. The highest legal authorities of our state clarified it in the case of Parks v. Cooper. You do not own this water as owners. You strictly control it as a trustee for public good in the sense of the code law of South Dakota 46.1.3, which establishes that all water belongs to the people. Furthermore, the code law of South Dakota 46.1.5 establishes that domestic use has absolute priority. You all have a copy. You don't have to believe me on the word. I have here an official letter from the Office of the Attorney General of South Dakota issued on August 10, 2026, which explicitly protects the priority of water for citizens compared to industrial uses. Vice Attorney General Emily Greco concludes by declaring their explicit commitment to protect the domestic water supply. In addition to this, we are in contact with the Secretary of the Daner Hunter Roberts, We will ensure that correct and rigorous hydrological tests are carried out for all large development projects within Rapid City. It is totally unacceptable that huge projects proceed while the municipalities are told to limit themselves to washing their hands in their homes, especially when the city's water infrastructure is currently losing a huge 33% of our drinking water deficit. Let's leave the water treated to be scattered in the ground, treating the citizens as a secondary priority. And this does not only concern the water shortage, a public disturbance problem that is serious. Look at the Common National Order on the noise. The Agency for the Protection of the American Environment explicitly establishes a 45-decibel threshold to protect public health and quietness in the internal residential areas. It is there that the limit must be set to protect the quietness and health of the Black Gap Ranch from the Data Center proposed on Highway 79, not the frivolous 60 decibels allowed for these commercial activities. Do you approve this ordinance, ignoring these limits?

Three minutes have passed, sir. Uh, the next one is Cindy Cook.

We have about five months of leave, so it should be enough.

Good evening, municipal council, commissioner. I've never been here, so it's my first time. I am the owner of a property in the district of Main Street Square, in the center. and I ask to be excluded from the rate of Main Street Square, which I have been paying for about 14 or 15 years. And since corruption is happening in Galla, I no longer want to pay taxes for this scheme of appropriations. Debt. I have never received any benefit from Main Street Square. My activity is out of the way. and this tax seems to be used to pay privileges for the manager of Main Street Square or whoever is responsible for it. I consider it a money recycling scheme. I have tried to contest this tax several times over the years, but with this discovery of fraud I not only want this unconstitutional tax to be removed from my tax account, but also the 15 years of previous payments, plus the interest. I would like to ask that this point be put in order of the day so that other people in this district can come and discuss the problem with all of you. So I guess that's all. Thank you very much.

The next is Nevada Ellison. My name is Nevada. I am with Blackies Cannabis Care. Um, mayor and council members, we are here to ask the council to solve a question that has been going on for many years. We are not asking the council to create a special license for BHCCC. We are not asking the council to choose winners and winners. We are not asking Rapid City to abandon the originally established numerical limit. We are asking the city to complete the initial process. In 2021, Rapid City established a system that allowed 15 dispensaries of cannabis medica because there were more questions than licenses available and 47 questions were submitted to the lottery. DHCC participated in that process. We were not selected for one of the 15 original positions. We accept this result. But 6 of the 15 establishments selected in the lottery have never become operational. The city itself has formally recognized this fact. The Rapid City Order, Chapter 5.7.17010, states that in the event that a medical cannabis dispensary does not start operating temporarily in the senses of this section, the license will be considered null and the activity will not be able to operate. The state law has set up a waiting list and has established that when a certificate becomes null, the activity does not become operational, it must be assigned to the next applicant in the waiting list.

The Supreme Court of South Dakota has now interpreted exactly that provision in the case of Puffiest.

The court has established that the words that must be assigned are clear and correct. We believe that such a principle must be applied consistently. If the Greenlight operation has forced the State to continue along the original waiting list, why shouldn't the same principle be applied to other lottery positions that have never become operational?

It is not about establishing whether someone in the Council supports or opposes the channel.

The directors of the South Dakota have legalized cannabis medicine. Rapid City has taken the political decision to authorize 15 dispensaries. It is a question of establishing whether those who have participated in a process created by the government can rely on the rules of the process itself. BATC has invested money, presented the questions, participated in the lottery and accepted its position in the order. We do not ask to pass in front of anyone else who legitimately precedes us. We ask the city to respect the established order. We therefore ask the council to hire the municipal staff and the city attorney to determine the remaining order from the original lottery of March 20, 2022 and to undertake the municipal actions necessary to allow the deceased positions to proceed according to the order until the original licensing process is completed. No new lottery, no favoritism, no selection of individual companies by the council. Just follow the original order. The city has established the rules and we companies have relied on such rules. The solution is here today, the simplest one. Finish the lottery.

And I thank you for your time.

I know we've been talking about it for many years and you know, for us it's important. We believe in our company and we will continue to fight for a license to Rapid City, hoping to get one. All right, thanks. The next James Bailotta.

Please vote. I have been accused of shaking the waters, which I do not do, but I will bring a bottle of lavender to unload a couple of assholes in here. So let's start. John Roberts, a member of the municipal council, should abstain from anything that concerns my name. He was caught sending me out of time messages, presuming that he was talking about me with someone else. Shame on you, sir. Kelly Mayer actually told the police not to let the matter reach the municipal council. the things they did illegally in Main Street Square. Well done, Kelly. You are the process. Fantastic. Greg Strowman threatened me with civil remedies as a lawyer. What he did not reveal is that his study is involved in a legal dispute with me and my wife, that the lawyer of his study was caught presenting fake to the office of the Secretary of State of South Dakota, Congratulations, sir. He did it five times. The penalty of five years in prison for every crime. What am I forgetting? Oh yes, depositing fake documents takes two years. It's five times. It's ten. It's thirty-five. Unless you're forgetting something else. Oh yes, fraud and deception towards the court because he used the documents to confirm the position of the client in the case. It's another crime for five years. Now I have in my hands an exposition to the order of lawyers that you are obliged by law to present once you have the information and it is in the judicial file 32 dent 6 where all the documents are deposited and if you do not have a copy they have brought you a lot so you can sign this document and denounce your lawyer to the order or I can add your name to the exposition and present it myself I await your decision So, let's talk now about the full weight of the government used against the citizens. Chief, we have reported these exposed to the order. Have you been threatened, supported or encouraged to not incriminate? Members of the council, partners, or do you want to grow and file a complaint? Do you have a municipal councillor caught by the bodycam while instructing the agents not to make things heard in these classrooms? What's going on? I've had enough. You've taken my family for five years. We've got so many of you. I challenge the next person to move on. I'll pull the sink like a bastard. Main Street Square must be dissolved at the incorporation together with Visit Rapid City. They use all the weight of their authority to drive people away from the public marches, to chase petitioners and torsions against the Church and the disabled. You can't be serious. Fix this thing now.

This is the end of the comments of the general public. I have the advisor Maher who has requested a personal privilege point. Advisor Maher. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to take a moment to promote our university. This week for the School of Mines is the week of the return home Saturday at 13 they will hold the football game for homecoming It will be against the University of New Mexico This year they have a fantastic football team They have already played four games and won three including their best game ever in which they beat the division 1 university So I really want the community and the council to support the School of Mines I thank you for the opportunity to make sure that everyone knows what is happening Thank you Thank you, Mayor. This concludes this part of our agenda for today. We will move on to the points not subject to public hearing. From 4 to 25 we will open the public comment for the points from 4 to 21. I have a request module. Intervention by James Bylander for point 14. Thank you, Mayor.

Point 14 specifically concerns another council that is to be created. As we have seen with Council B, The Main Street Square, Visit Rapid City, all these councils are not subject to supervision. Your own municipal lawyers have informed them that they do not operate legally. They hold secret meetings that are not open to the public. They don't record the speeches, they don't allow public comments. And why is the city spending 3 million dollars for the Rapid City elite? I think you've already given them enough money with the contracts they own. Why are Henny Shave and Jim Skull and your financial director part of a foundation that distributes public money? Seriously, what's the point? What's the purpose? Do you want people to call the hotline for the holes or signal the lights off? Maybe you should spend part of that money to remove the cameras for the floods. I think we all encourage you to do it. What is this equipment for? Who benefits from it? Which individual should I tell and which donor? Because it is a list of the most famous names among the rapids. Seriously, where are you going? This money is for what public purpose? Certainly not to defame the homeless? It's not even to be targeted. The churches in the center are... What is it for? It is to help schools, children, needy people or reduce taxes on property. Repair roads and bridges? Let's go. Where are the money of the contributors going? It's a black background. And I want to know if council members are paid. We don't need to give the city's elite an additional position in the council as a thank you for contributing to my campaign. It must end. Check your funds. Now. This group will also have private insurance such as Main Street Square and a race band of 5 million dollars, so if people make mistakes, they can also cause them. You have already lost sovereign immunity with Main Street Square and Visit Rapid City. I mean, they really went far. So why don't you tell the public if they will be another public agency with private insurance also financed by the city? I'm waiting.

Well, this concludes the comments of the public on these points and we will move on to the consensus points from 4 to 21. Counselor Seacrest.

We were just withdrawing point 14, I think, Bill.

Point 14.

That point and I intend to intervene on that point.

Okay, then point 14 is withdrawn. Counselor Armstrong.

I would like to withdraw point 15, please. Point 15. Other points.

Well, we have a motion with a second from the main to approve the points from 4 to 21, with the exception of 14 and 15. Favorable. Contrary. Motion approved. Point 14. Approve the following inaugural members of the Council for the Impact Endowment Fund. Don Warren, Annie Shafi, Jim Skoll, Carl Weiss, Bonnie Herman, Paulette Davidson, Daniela Hensley, Brianna Vanderpool and Kristen Konzet. Councilor Evans, you are in charge, gentlemen.

I must say that I find myself in the strange situation of agreeing with Mr. Biolotta here. I think you know that I was an opponent declared to the change of these division funds to how they have been used in the last 2-4 years. I think they are getting further and further away from the intent of the people and the readers. And in this specific case I continue to maintain these inappropriate names. I think it was completely taken from the hands of the citizens of Rapid City who pay taxes for this and I think we should resend this particular approval until we have further discussions on who is part of these committees, who will evaluate this group, who will assign the money and somehow rethink this advice so that it is more representative of the citizens who have paid this tax from the beginning. So this is what I wanted to say about it, because surely I will not support it, not that I do not really admire it. And you know, I want to see some of these people in the council. This is not the problem. The problem is how all this was born and how it has manifested itself over time. So I will be in total opposition to number 14. Councilor Chris.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I felt the need to intervene for those who may not have had the opportunity to read the agenda in the materials attached, just to inform you about the intentions of the impact endowment fund committee. So, the city has allocated 3 million dollars for this fund managed by the Black Hills Area Community Foundation for future capital improvement projects for the community or for community stakeholders. It is about replacing the funds for the non-profit organizations that we had previously assigned through the process of the Standard Vision Fund, thus having the opportunity to respond to some needs of the city through the reallocation of such resources. The $ 3 million have been paid off by a $ 500,000 contribution from the John T. Vukorovich Foundation and those $ 3.5 million are currently kept in a trust with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation The reason why you see this specific composition of the council is that it will mainly be a council dedicated to fundraising for the next 3-5 years until we will be able to bring the grant to at least 6 million dollars to be able to start collecting. Living myself in the world of fundraising and knowing how difficult it is to obtain resources for your organization, I think the composition of this advice makes a lot of sense, having included the most influential figures of our community. We have involved people with the financial capacity to concretely demonstrate their commitment. I mean, they can actively contribute to making this advice and this fund grow. And in the end, the community will earn from it. When will we have this funding? fully invested, which is 6 million or, as we hope, 10 million dollars, we will be able to deposit 500,000 dollars a year for our local non-profit organizations and for those who carry out the work that the city cannot necessarily cover. Or, you know, our non-profits play a vital role in the community. They provide services for us that the city is not able to offer and that standard companies are usually not able to provide. So this is a way for the city to build that pool of funds to be able to continue to support the fantastic no-profit of our community in a significant way, but at the moment we have few resources and therefore people draw hasty conclusions thinking that this is just a narrow circle of influential members. And I want to be here to thank all the members of this committee who have presented their candidacy and are willing to do the hard work necessary to collect those funds, because collecting 3 million dollars is not an easy job. So I appreciate their efforts and thank you. I give you the floor.

Next, Mr. Ma. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I would only like to present the motion to approve number 14. Direct. the motion in the room and to approve point 14 by Maher with the support of Secret. And now let's move on to Councilor Armstrong.

Thank you. I just wanted to follow up on my colleague's comments. I think it's fantastic to recognize, as she calls them, the big pieces of Rapid City. The Rapid City, I think it's phenomenal. But if we want to be completely transparent about how it happened, they didn't present their own candidacy. They were selected. The mayor's office contacted these people. A couple of them even contacted me asking what it was about. I didn't know. In addition to being fully transparent, I spoke with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation, which I highly respect. I believe they do a stellar job and I am grateful that they are here. I just have a problem with how I feel that the Vision Funds have been, to use a strong term, disrupted by taking these $ 3 million of money from the contributors. Today I learned that those three million dollars are no longer money from the contributors, but according to this contract that the council approved before I was part of this body, it is no longer money from the contributors. Now it's money from the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. So I have a problem with the procedure of how everything happened and with the contact methods. There were some members at this point. Have they seen any questions of participation? All the people who are proposed are, in my opinion, star figures of our community and I take them into great consideration. I just ask that there be common people, the middle class, people of color who are not part of this council. Although I have faith that the Black Hills Area Community Foundation will manage this money well, I don't like how the deed was carried out. It seems like an average school thing. We chose our favorite people instead of going to a larger group of people. There were two teachers from the School of Minds. One is an economics professor who wanted to take part in it a couple of weeks ago. I respectfully asked for them to be taken into consideration and I was blocked. I will respect that decision, but I only think that in the future, if we must have citizens' committees, yes, they are influential people, I agree, but we must be more inclusive towards all the contributors of Rapid City, because that is also their money. Thank you.

Let's go back to Councilor Seacrest.

Thank you, Mr. Seacrest. May I ask if I can ask a question to the staff of the Office of the Mayor present among the public or to you regarding that process of candidacy of interest of the citizens? Can you tell us about the process that the Office of the Mayor has followed for the selection of this specific group?

Certainly. So we have here Lea Brown of my office, but I'll start, Lea. Fundamentally, when this council took over the Vision Fund, it was a Vision Fund award that the council approved a while ago and, in fact, it also increased the fund. I think I said 1.5 million and you increased it to 3. For that fund we made a RFP offer to the foundations to create a grant. The main purpose of the fund is to create equalizing funds for capital projects for non-profit organizations in the community since many of them have exploited the Vision Fund over the years. We had tens of millions of dollars allocated to non-profit organizations over the years and of course we modified the Vision Fund to give priority to the citizens now. This is one of the prerequisites, they are public projects for public purposes. So this was part of that change and the council agreed to allocate 3 million dollars for this purpose. We therefore made a request to offer the foundations, the Black Hills Area Community Foundation won that request thanks to what it could offer in the management of the fund, as well as the advice and the process. From there, once they obtained the commission, they provided our office with a list of people who they thought could be useful, as the advisor Seacrest said, to collect funds, as well as to make sure that any large donor in the area could contribute to the Impact Fund, thus being able to have equal funds for large projects and work together as a community. Sioux Falls has something similar. That's more or less where the idea came from. So that non-profit entity, that way that will survive all of us, because a grant, if you don't know, it doesn't just mean taking that money. It means using the interests of that money for the counterparty funds and the more those funds grow, the more money circulates in the community and will continue to exist for years and years, much beyond our time. So that initial list arrived and then in accordance with the policy We have opened the possibility of presenting applications. We have had several people who have asked for the remaining positions that you have seen here tonight. Not all of them have been selected. Regarding the point of Mrs. Armstrong, I heard that she asked to include someone after the deadline. It would not have been fair to those who presented the question in the first place. We had a good group of people, I think, Brianna Van Der Pol and Christine Konzat. I think they brought something unique to the table thanks to their background and, of course, it could be an advice that changes over time, but... Lea Brown from my office, perhaps you have something else to add that I have not shared.

Thank you very much for this clarification. Was it Forward to False, what you mentioned, that we were inspired by?

It has a different name, but...

We only know that the needs of Rapid City and collectively as a community are not missing. This will allow us to have a long-term impact and I understand the perception. That's why I felt the need to talk about it tonight. Thank you.

I would like to recommend the word to Evans.

Well, I do not disagree with Mrs. Seacrest on the importance of having people who are able to collect funds. But from my brief research, the Sioux Falls fund was not created with the money of the contributors destined through voting. It has different purposes. So it's not a matter of the fund itself, since I supported the creation of this fund. I think it's a great idea. We should have had one for 50 years in this city. However, it is the process with which money has suddenly stopped being under the control of the citizens. This is the problem with what we do so often here. It is the process and I do not agree with all the comments that come from people but we must be more transparent every time we deal with money from the contributors. I still believe that if votes were to be put The vast majority of Rapid City citizens would say to put money back in the Vision fund so as to be able to spend them as we had planned. I talked to some of these future members of the council. Some of them think the same way, that is, the Vision fund should never have been touched. So I'm just saying that it's a matter of method. Let's not confuse the waters on the fact that this is a good idea, because it's a fantastic idea, but we have to proceed in the right way.

Consigliere Maier

I just wanted to add that the council has approved the Vision fund of 3 million dollars to allocate them to this new impact fund and one of the reasons for which it was done and you can inform yourself is that of subtracting the decisions to the municipal council and we this was only the initial capital the goal is to reach 10 million dollars in this fund before starting to pay money is an independent council They choose qualified non-profit organizations and vote. The council will change, but the city is out. It was a donation to Tantum. There will be no other funds of the contributors intended for this fund. I think it is very important to do it and, you know, we must stop attacking our philanthropists in the city. It's ridiculous. So, at this moment, the motion in discussion is to approve or who is in favor? Contrary. The motion passes with two contrary votes from Armstrong and Evans. We move on to point 15 and authorize the staff to take on an external legal action to initiate credit recovery actions for some accounts. Utilities suspended. Laura Armstrong, Councilor Armstrong, you have requested this point.

Thank you. I would like to present a motion to resend this point. If I could have a second, then I will explain why. Thank you.

Armstrong's motion with the support of Evans for the return. So we must immediately move on to the vote.

I can't explain why.

No, not on the return. Not on the return motion. So who is in favor of the return? Say in favor.

In favor.

Contrary? The motion passes 2 to 8. And they knew it.

Oh, you're not... Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I...

I think we voted for the rescheduling. Thank you.

I wrongly declared that the motion was rejected with two votes in favor and eight in opposition. Thank you. So it was not rescheduled. It did not get the Council's votes. So we resume the agenda of the day. Councilor Armstrong can continue his intervention.

Thank you. I hoped to pause this action, not because I want to grant Siddiq some clemency. I followed the story. What they are doing to Star Village I think is completely wrong. But I really feel that Siddiq's finger was pointed too far. e penso che dovremo guardare alla città e chiederci come sia potuto accadere. Non riesco a trovare il costo effettivo a cui è arrivata la cifra, ma è esorbitante. E non capisco perché non sia stato affrontato uno o due anni fa o prima che raggiungesse le sei cifre. Vorrei una sessione di lavoro in cui possiamo sederci ad analizzare la situazione. The idea of throwing good money after bad ones does not suit me, and as... ...responsible of public cash, I do not understand whether we should pay a failure judge or a credit recovery. Anyone who knows something about failures knows that they recover perhaps a few cents for every dollar. Then... I'm not... Criticizing our municipal attorney, I think we are in a difficult situation. It is not a good situation for anyone at this point, but I want to know where our tax collectors are. So they owe us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do we know how much it will cost to hire a lawyer? How much will the legal expenses outside and inside the court cost? What is our return on investment? I think we will get a few cents per dollar, if it goes well. And I just think we have to analyze what is happening to make sure that it never happens again. So I give the word. Thank you.

Now I will consider the word. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, we can stay here and bang our heads against the wall all day to figure out how to prevent it from happening again, but it will happen anyway, again.

The biggest problem that we have as a city and the reason why we have come to this point is that we have only one option.

They start to accumulate the tracts and we close the water. Do you want to close the water to 300 residents? It is impossible to do. I have this problem and I hit my head against the wall on a property in my district for ten years. They accumulate delays, they accumulate delays, they accumulate delays.

We have to try a cause. It is what these people do. These people do not wake up until they are forced to do it. And that it is 50 dollars or a nickel per dollar. At least we are getting something. Now we are not getting anything from them.

We will probably get much more than that, because usually in these cases, once done, if they still own the property, we present a privilege on that property. So when they sell it, we get our money back. But if we don't force them, and they have shown it to us more and more times over the years, the only way to move them in one direction is with force.

And it's a shame. It's a shame. But we couldn't stop them from coming to the city. We didn't know when they bought all these properties that they would have been this kind of owners. We had no idea. I mean, if we had that crystal ball, we could have a utopia. But we don't have it. So, you know, what we're doing here and how we can stop all this in the future is absolutely impossible. There will always be owners who take advantage of things. There will always be people who don't pay the bills. This is only enhanced. And this is something we have to deal with. If we don't force them, I don't think we'll be able to solve the situation. Thank you.

Thank you. We can recommend Stroma.

Thank you, sir. May I address the questions to the municipal prosecutor?

Absolutely.

So, Carla, I have some questions. Is it a percentage agreement or at an hourly rate and is there a limit? My second question is, what are the reasonable expectations of compensation? And my third is, can we compensate? Can we compensate something with the tributary court since there is automatic suspension?

Okay, that said, let's move on to our municipal prosecutor, Carly Cushman.

Thank you. And it's not a partial percentage agreement? Is it an hourly rate agreement? I don't have it. The agreement in front of me, so I don't remember, but I put a limit of 50,000 dollars, so that every additional amount other than that must return for approval. As you know, Councilor Stroman and whoever has been here and has been involved in a cause, it is very difficult to predict the outcome of a consensus on how much it will cost and what the results will be. But this is a relatively simple question and I am confident that this would have succeeded in recovering money on behalf of the city and our corporate funds. I think of your last question, and please correct me if I missed any. Your last question is about the failure, to which the advisor Armstrong also referred. I think failure may seem the most complicated thing than it actually is. There is a small sum of money that was accrued for these properties at Star Village before the failure was declared in April 2025. In your next order of the day, there will be... I don't remember the exact expression, but basically the issuance of those imports. We have presented something to the Tribunal, but we are at the bottom of the list, so I don't think those 25,000 dollars are my priority. But the rest of the imports of ZS Rapid City Portfolio 1 LLC, which are much larger than 25,000, are subsequent to the failure. Once the failure has been declared, they have stopped paying the utility bills for the most part and those debts are not subject to the failure. So I am confident that it is from there that our lawyers will start and I hope we will have succeeded.

Mr. Romano, please. I give you the floor. Counselor Evans. Thank you.

Let's not distort what Mrs. Armstrong was saying there. It was not her intention not to withdraw this loan. I think she was just pointing out that we were not informed enough to know exactly what our procedure is. Now, over the years, if you do not have heritage resources to fight the city, they climb against you and crush you like a miserable insect. But if you are a billionaire who lives in Miami or anyone else, you know, I tell you that 50,000 dollars for our legal expenses in South Dakota will not be enough to compete with those of Miami, because they are probably better than our lawyers. And this is what happens here all the time. The big piece is just taking time and it will fall out clean as a rose. Yet the small person always pays the final price suddenly. So let's not distort what was the comments of Mrs. Armstrong. Let's all think the same way. We have observed this evolution in recent years. And it is very obvious where all this will end up. It will end up in front of the court. Someone will end up buying that property and the people who live in Star Village, who are mainly people with little resources, will end up broke and we will have a hill full of houses or luxury apartments. And that's where it's going to stop. You heard it here first, people. The prophet still speaks

Councilor Tyman, I propose to approve. Well, we have a motion by Tyman with the support of Roberts to approve. All in favor? Any opposed? The motion passes with two opposed votes by Evans and Armstrong. Thank you all. This brings us to the end of the points in the order of the day. We will pass the non-consensual points from 22 to 25 and open the public comments for the points from 22 to 25. I have no way of request to speak, so I will close the public comment. And I will move on to point 22, first reading, order number 6055, an order that modifies section 17.06 of the municipal code of Rapid City, requested by the Black Hills Area Community Foundation for the revitalization of the light industrial district to commercial district for offices, for a property generally located north and south of Istana Mosa Street and west of Utica Street. Biberdorf's motion, with the support of Sekeres. All in favor? Any opposed? Approved. Point 23, second reading of order number 6-748 regarding the distancing order for fiscal year 2027. Approved. Sekeres's motion, with the support of Maher, to approve. All in favor? Any opposed? The motion is approved on behalf of the opposites of Stroman and Armstrong. Point 24 confirms the renowns of Jen Johnson, Emily Calhoun and Pat Roseland to the Committee for Historical Conservation. Ok, motion of Biberdorf with the support of Sekeres to approve. Counselor Evans asked to speak on this point.

Yes, as I mentioned the public works, I'm a bit confused about the purpose of the committee we have here and several voters called me by reading the requirements of South Dakota for such a group that oversees historical issues and I don't think they are fulfilling their obligations. Observed since I was in the municipal council, the interior of the Rushmore Mutual Building, a large interior demolished without protests. I saw the Christian Science Church, one of the three art deco structures of the 1930s in the city, demolished without any protest. I saw the demolition of the St. John's Church in North Rapid last week without any protest. And you know, I will never exceed that sign that is imposed down there. And I think it is the duty of the committee to oppose it. So I think we have to talk about the duties of those in charge in the council and look at the state statutes. It is not limited to West Boulevard. They should have a voice in the chapter on all the historical structures of the city and I don't think they are doing it. So I will vote no to this.

Councilor Armstrong.

Yes, thank you. I just want to refresh everyone's memory on the meeting of public works. I think it is important that these committees present themselves in front of our Council to update us, just like the Disability Committee, to let us know what they are doing. I think it is very important, and I spoke with Director Fischer so that this group would present itself in front of us. Devo rivolgere qualcosa al direttore Fischer. Porteremo una presentazione a dicembre che potrà darci un aggiornamento. Penso che ci aiuterà ad avere un miglior rapporto con i nostri comitati cittadini e incoraggerà anche le persone a unirsi a questi comitati. Quindi attendo con ansia la presentazione di dicembre. Grazie.

Well, the motion in discussion is approved. Who is in favor? Someone against. The motion passes with two opposites of Stroman and Evans. All right. Point 25. We have a license request for alcoholics for special events, Fat Boys Inc., which operates as a firehouse brewing for a sales license, of Bevande al Malto for a wine sales license. I apologize for an event that will take place on September 26, 2026 at the O'Hara Stadium at 501 East St. Joseph Street. All right, Strowman motion to approve with the support of Roberts. All in favor? Anyone against? The motion is approved. This brings us to public hearings 26 and 27. We will open the public hearing. For points 26 and 27, I have no requests to speak, so we will close the public hearing for these points and move on to points 26 and 27 of the public hearing with consent. I'm waiting for the motion.

I propose to approve.

Roberts' motion with the support of Tammann to approve points 26 and 27. All in favor? Anyone against? Motion approved. This brings us to the end of the public audience calendar with consent. Let's move on. Well, it seems that we need an executive session. Do we have a motion for this? Armstrong's motion with Roberts' second to move on to the executive session. All in favor? Anyone against? We are in the executive session. We have a motion to exit the executive session. A motion by Armstrong in accordance with Evans. Who's in favor? Anyone against? Let's get out of the executive session. This brings us to the bill list and with that we move on to the financial director, Daniel Ainslie. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Total bills for Main Street Square and Visit Rapid City amount to $173,624. Temming motion, according to Roberts, to approve Article 28. Anyone opposed? The motion passes with an abstention from Mayer. Article 29, you have the floor, Daniel.

Thank you, Mr. President. The remaining invoices amount to a total of 10,507,472 dollars and 72 dollars.

Mayer motion, according to Seacrest, to approve Article 29. Anyone opposed?

The motion passes. We have a motion for the newspaper. Motion by Sigrist, second by Mayer. All in favor? Anyone against? Meeting adjourned. Thank you all.