by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The Garretson City Council met both in person and via Zoom on Monday, November 9. While it was a fairly quick meeting, the council approved a mask-wearing resolution, looked at its current debt load, heard an update about bike trails, and discussed the results from the ash tree count that had been conducted in September.
All council members were in attendance, with council member Richelle Hofer attending via Zoom.
The first order of business was a mask-wearing resolution, which requested all people in Garretson wear masks in public in order to reduce COVID case numbers. The numbers of infected have gone up significantly very recently, impacting the local nursing home, churches, and businesses. Due to this, the council is requesting all members of the community help take care of each other by continuing to follow all CDC guidelines and wearing a mask when not in the home. The council passed the resolution unanimously. (For more details on the resolution, please see the November 12 issue of the Gazette.)
The council then had the first reading of a 2020 Supplemental Appropriations ordinance for $52,700, which was similar to 2019 ($74,000). City Finance Officer Anna Uhl explained supplemental appropriations as moving budgeted amounts from one account to another, in order to help the budget balance. Some areas spent more money, while others spent less. This occurs every year.
After tabling a discussion on the employee handbook until December, the council heard an update from council member Hofer with regards to bike trails. She met with officials from Game, Fish, & Parks (GFP) and Palisades State Park in October, and discussed how to continue a trail from the park to Garretson. Palisades State Park is planning to build a bike trail to their lodge, which is approximately a mile north of the current entrance to the park on 485th Ave. Hofer was interested to learn the options that GFP had for building bike trails, including funding and grant opportunities.
“They think that we really need to pursue this right now, for several reasons- from a financial standpoint, it makes sense,” Hofer said. “ [The State] would like to connect the trail to Garretson, and so that would make it an automatic priority. The GFP would like to help us get funding.” She noted that everything, such as planning, proposals, and funding requests take time, which means getting started sooner rather than later is the best course of action. If the City were to wait, then GFP priority for funding would decrease substantially.
She also spoke about how previous concerns about the township road had been figured in, but since funding for bike trails is separate from road funding, the GFP official recommended that it should no longer be tied together.
The City has plans in hand from Infrastructure Designs’ Chad Hanisch on a proposed bike trail, and Hanisch, who was also in attendance via Zoom, noted that they can work from those with some minor changes. The council agreed that moving ahead with funding requests and planning was important, and gave Hofer and Hanisch permission to continue moving forward.
The next item on the agenda was information regarding ash trees on boulevards and in city parks in Garretson. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture sent three personnel, SDSU Forestry Health Specialist John Ball, Community Forester Rick Mayko, and Community Forestry Coordinator Rachel Ormseth. They were surveying in preparation for the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), which has been found in Sioux Falls and is expected to arrive in Garretson within the next 1-4 years. Once the pest is discovered, it has a 100% kill rate within 5 to 8 years. Ash trees infested with EAB are killed from the inside out, causing the tree to fall over within one year of death. Due to this, removal or treatment are the only two options, and the forestry department does not recommend long-term treatment due to overall environmental toxicity and costs.
Overall, they counted 177 ash trees on the streets, and 113 in main areas of the parks. Over three-quarters of the trees were over 30 feet tall, and many were already suffering from the effects of native pathogens and pests. Trees between 15 and 30 feet tall were all currently in good condition, and only 10 trees under 15 feet were found. However, they noted that a significant proportion of the trees in town are ash trees.
The City began the process of removal during the summer of 2019, and continued that process this past summer, removing trees at the Jaycee Complex and in Split Rock Park. Eight of the trees at the Jaycee Complex were replaced this fall thanks to generous donations.
The estimated cost for removal and replacement of all the trees came to $71,000, with $50,000 of that going toward removal.
Council member Dave Bonte was concerned about the overall cost, especially the cost of replacement. Very little federal or state funding is available for this effort. The City has budgeted for some tree removal and replacement in 2021.
Other members on the council noted that homeowners will be responsible for the trees on their property, and the city is responsible for those trees in parks and public lands. The estimated cost did take into account trees that were homeowner responsibility.
Garretson Parks Advisory Committee member and Master Gardener Colleen Collier, who has been working closely with the city and the forestry department on tree removal and replacement, said that working with EarthScapes this past summer was worthwhile, as they were able to obtain and plant several trees for the Jaycee Complex at a reasonable price. She said that several of the trees were 1.5 inches in diameter and cost $300 each.
Mayor Beaner responded that doing a little bit at a time, such as the city has done over the past two years, has been the best course of action. Since this item on the agenda was informational, the council took no further action.
The council then addressed a proposal to buy a portion of land from Collier, whose private driveway off Center Avenue has been used for years as a public alleyway. Due to liability, cost of maintenance, and issues she had with industrial traffic this past summer, she had requested the City purchase that property so it could be utilized and maintained properly. She had two proposals, a lower-cost option that required the City to make updates and changes within a reasonable time frame to reduce water drainage issues, and a higher-cost option that allowed the city to work with Collier on making needed improvements as part of the sale.
After some discussion, council member Bill Hoskins made a motion to purchase the land at the higher-cost option. He was concerned about the city being able to make the needed improvements within the requested time frame, and wanted to allow the flexibility for Collier to pursue options as soon as possible. The rest of the council agreed, and voted to purchase the land at the higher price.
Next on the agenda was a discussion about the City’s debt load, which is an important consideration when looking at the next big projects the City needs to take on, including a new City Hall and community center, bike trails, and more infrastructure improvements. According to City Finance Officer Uhl, the City has approximately $2 million left before it reaches its debt load of 5%. State law prevents municipalities from carrying a debt load higher than that without special permission. The 5th Street bridge improvement project, which has a price tag of nearly $1 million, will go toward that debt load until the State reimburses the City for its portion of the funds.
Luckily, Uhl said, the State is much faster at reimbursements than FEMA, which took 3 years to reimburse the City for the dam improvement project.
Other items that are currently going toward the debt load include the recent TIF that was passed to encourage development in the southern area of town and the apartment complex renovation on Main, and the loan obtained to connect the City to the Lewis & Clark water project. As things are paid down, availability of the debt load increases, however, Uhl is hesitant to over-pay by tapping into contingency funds. Contingency funds are the “something blew up” monies, or emergency funds. The council agreed that leaving contingency funds alone was a good course of action, and appreciated the information.
The council then approved the liquor license renewals for O So Good, The Gulch, Sports Cabin, Jesse James Country Store, Palisades Oil, and Dollar General, noting that none of the businesses had issues within the last year.
Prior to going into executive session, community member Mark Williamson spoke with the council about the plans for the curb/gutter/sidewalk that was to be installed on his property at Essex and Granite. Current plans call for a boulevard, which, Williamson stated, would eat up two-thirds of his available parking. Speaking with Sayre Associates had so far been unsuccessful in changing those plans, and Williamson was requesting the council act as an intermediary.
Council member Bonte was concerned about safety along that corner, but the council was confident something could be done to modify the plans and help Williamson re-acquire the majority of his lot. Mayor Beaner agreed to act as an intermediary and would work to set up a meeting between Sayre Associates and Williamson.
The council then adjourned to go into Executive Session, which was labeled as legal discussions.
The next meeting of the council will be on Monday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Legion. All attendees are welcome to request to attend via Zoom by contacting Anna prior to the meeting.
